Steenhuisen considering action against IEC following issues on election day
John Steenhuisen says they are considering taking action against the IEC following long queues and delays on election day.
Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen says they are considering taking action against the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) following a number of issues on election day and the system crash.
On Wednesday, 29 May, South Africans flooded social media with images and videos of long queues outside voting stations. Some also shared their frustrations about delays and technical glitches with the IEC system.
STEENHUISEN LASHES OUT AT THE IEC
Addressing the media at the National Results Operation Centre in Midrand, Steenhuisen said the IEC was their biggest opponent that wasn’t even on the ballot paper.
He blamed the Electoral Commission after citizens allegedly failed to exercise their democratic right to vote due to long queues.
“You’ve got one job and you’ve got five years to prepare for it an this is the omni shambles that you produce. I think there needs to be a higher degree of accountability by the IEC for what has happened. You can’t be spending this amount of money, you can’t tell us you’re election ready.
“When concerns were raised you brush those aside and say no it’s all fine and then we see the omni shambles that happened on election day,” he lashed out at the IEC.
Furthermore, Steenhuisen said their attorneys are looking at a variety of options as they are of the view that the Electoral Commission caused a significant damage to the share of votes for all the political parties.
“It cannot be business as usual for the IEC after this election. We gave them another chance after the shambles in the 2021 Local Government Elections which we believe cost us the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro.
“We need to sort the IEC out. They need to be fit for purpose, they need to be able to do their job properly. We cannot ever have a situation like we had,” Steenhuisen added.
EFF WEIGHS IN ON CRASH OF THE RESULTS BOARD
Meanwhile, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) also criticised the IEC after its system “crashed” on Friday morning.
The red berets also echoed the same sentiments saying the incident highlights incompetence and inability of the IEC to safeguard the country’s democracy.
“This incompetence was first witnessed on the voting day where voting machines were not fully functional in many stations across the country. This resulted in long lines and a longer voting process which were not properly managed by the institution,” the EFF said.