Opinion
Q&A with electoral commissioner Mosotho Moepya
The IEC has been accused of incompetence for the way it handled the elections, which have been tainted by allegations of fraud. Chris Barron asked electoral commissioner Mosotho Moepya...
Did you mess up?
No.
Why did 27 parties raise formal complaints?
In an election where you don't get anything there's not a ready level of acceptance.
What about voting stations that opened late or not at all?
There is no voting station that did not open but there was one that had no single voter because of community protests.
What about running out of ballot papers?
We had stations in which their availability was a problem.
Why?
Because of section 24 (a), that enables people like emergency workers who work in one area but live in another to vote. It allows you to vote outside where you have registered. But in this election other people used it who were shopping for shorter queues.
Does this explain why nearly three times the number of people registered at a voting station in Gauteng actually voted there?
Yes it does.
What about stations where more votes were cast than both the number registered to vote there and the number of section 24s?
We had a handful of instances where the section 24 forms ran out. After consultation with political party agents in the stations those voters would have been marked in a book called a "diary" as opposed to on a form.
Have you confirmed registered voters, section 24 voters and those entered in the diary against the number of votes actually cast?We released an independent report by the statistician-general which looked at that and confirmed our own finding.That the numbers tally?Yes, they are broadly confirmed.What about indelible ink that was not indelible and allowed double voting?I'm not sure about the double votes. I called for evidence a week ago, I still haven't received it.Do you accept that people were able to wash off the ink?With a chemical, not with water.But they were able to wash it off?In instances we've heard of people carried a set of chemicals that they used with the intention to defraud.Do you know how many voted more than once in Gauteng?We don't.Where the margin of victory is one seat it's important to find out, isn't it?We have made a public call to everyone to say, let us know if there are people who have done so. No-one has come forward. We are happy that everywhere, even in Gauteng, the election outcome is materially correct.What about people on social media who say they voted twice?There is no evidence. We've followed up some of those and haven't found [anything]. We've done materiality tests and commissioned an independent study. There is no evidence. How far more do we go?A full audit of voting stations?There is no basis for that. Parties have accepted the result. And by the way there is no requirement in law to have an audit...
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