Glitches cause delays at some voting stations

Voting got off to a slow and chilly start at several voting stations in New Brighton on Wednesday, with some glitches delaying the process — including a missing password.

At Ben Sinuka Primary School, where scores of voters lined up at the designated voting station, Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) officials did not have the password to scan IDs to assist with the counting of voters.

The presiding officer at the voting station, who declined to be named, said they had been trying to get hold of their colleagues to get the password.

“We haven't been able to scan anyone since we started working this morning,” the officer said.

“We have been trying to call people at the office to assist us and are still waiting. But voting has not been affected.”

At Jarvis Gqamlana Primary School, presiding officer Sibuyile Hlungwini said it was mostly the elderly who arrived at the station early in the morning.

He said they had experienced network issues, making it difficult to operate the voter management device (VMD).

“The VMD works intermittently, but we are using the voters roll as back up which makes things easier because it's in alphabetical order.”

IEC spokesperson Sanda Nodada said there were minor issues at some stations.

“There were a few technical glitches when stations were opening with a delay of about five minutes but this was resolved.”

Nodada said the voter management devices could work offline without a signal.

“They work offline to check whether a person is registered and ballots are to be issued.

“The voter’s roll is not a backup but rather it is used to check if a voter is registered as well and mark them as voted,” Nodada said.

HeraldLIVE