Durban — ActionSA KZN premier candidate Zwakele Mncwango shared that the overall turnout in last week’s elections could have been higher had people not been turned away at polling stations.
Mncwango added: “In terms of the process, it sounded as if the IEC was not ready for this election or lacked resources. They seemed confused and the issue of Section 24 was becoming an issue.
“Another issue was that people were unaware that they could only vote at specific voting stations and it created an issue for them to vote.
“Having technical issues like scanners not working was an issue and anybody could have voted as there was no way to prove that someone had visited previously,” he said.
Mncwango also said the timing of the elections, in the middle of the week, did not help those who were registered in faraway places and that one day was too short for the holding of the polls.
He said it was still too early to say if the elections were free and fair until the IEC had responded to the objections submitted by the various political parties.
Mncwango added that the IEC needed to show transparency in their decisions on these objections.
“It will only be free and fair once the courts have heard the other parties’ grievances. I think it's time that the IEC gives voters confidence to show that they’re not biased in any election,” he concluded.
ActionSA received 10 363 votes or 0.29% of voter support in the province.
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