'All systems go' for elections
Chris Bathembu
21 April 2009
With less than 24 hours before polling stations open in South Africa, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) says more than 19 000 voting stations have already received their ballot papers and that it is "all systems go" for Wednesday's poll - the poor weather forecast for some areas notwithstanding.
Around 23-million South Africans have registered to vote nationally, with Gauteng province having the largest voting population in the country with 5.5-million registered voters.
- For everything you need to know about voting, visit www.elections.org.za
Speaking to journalists in Pretoria on Tuesday, Chief Electoral Officer Pansy Tlakula said the election results were expected to be announced between Saturday, 25 April and Wednesday, 29 April, depending on the number of objections the IEC received from political parties.
By law, the commission cannot announce the results for 48 hours after voting has closed. The IEC is also constitutionally obliged to release the results within seven days of election day.
The IEC also said on Tuesday that it has contingency plans in place for areas of the country where bad weather might make voting difficult on Wednesday.
Tlakula said several temporary polling stations were blown away by strong winds in the Eastern Cape on Monday. There is also an 80 percent chance of rain in KwaZulu-Natal on Wednesday.
Tlakula said contingency plans included distributing more temporary polling stations and dispatching IEC officials to where voters might be stranded.
On Monday, KwaZulu-Natal provincial electoral officer Mawethu Mosery told BuaNews they were aware of the weather situation, and that people should not panic.
If the weather did not allow the use of helicopters to distribute ballot papers to rural areas, the IEC would use the roads. "The IEC will ensure that every station gets their ballot papers by Wednesday morning, even if it means working through the night," Mosery said.
Source: BuaNews
