Fraud suspected during special vote in Durban
Electoral officials in Folweni and Dundee have been dismissed after possible electoral fraud was discovered, the IEC in KwaZulu-Natal said. [VIDEO]
|||Durban - Electoral officials in Folweni and Dundee have been dismissed after possible electoral fraud was discovered, the IEC in KwaZulu-Natal said on Wednesday.
Chairman Mawethu Mosery said new officials had been deployed to the area and police were investigating the fraud.
The incident occurred at the Red Cross hall in Folweni, south of Durban, and the Latima Community hall in Dundee during the special vote on Monday and Tuesday.
The officials were sacked on Tuesday night.
The commission’s KwaZulu-Natal spokesman Thabani Ngwira said it had discovered irregularities with the administering of special ballot papers at the Dundee station.
He could not immediately confirm the number of the dismissed officials, nor how many ballot papers were involved.
When opening the ballot boxes, the commission discovered that the proper procedure was not followed.
Ngwira also confirmed that similar irregularities had been discovered at the Ward 95 voting station in Folweni, south of Durban.
“For special votes the ballot paper is inserted into an A5 unmarked envelope. This envelope is then inserted into an A4 envelope marked with the name, surname and identity number of the voter. The marked and sealed envelops is then put aside. We discovered that some of the envelopes were not in order, hence the decision to remove the officials,” Ngwira said.
He said once the special voting was done, the envelopes were opened and the ballot papers were put into general ballot boxes with the regular votes.
He said the Dundee voting station had not been closed because they were able to call in additional staff.
The number of affected ballot papers and implicated officials would be announced in due course, he said.
Elections Bureau