Protests delay special votes in some areas

The Independent Electoral Commission says despite a few glitches the special votes' process got off to a smooth start on Monday.

A record 719 222 applications for special votes were received.

The IEC briefed the media at the national results operations centre in Tshwane on Monday afternoon.

Chief electoral officer Mosotho Moepya confirmed special voting in some areas were delayed due to service delivery protests, the wrong ballot papers being delivered and election staff being involved in car accidents.

"Three election staff were involved in three separate car accidents en route to voting stations. A presiding officer of a voting station in the Tubatse-Fetakgomo Municipality in Limpopo was seriously injured and taken to hospital," Moepya confirmed.

A presiding officer was injured in a car accident in Mpumalanga. An area manager from KwaZulu-Natal was also involved in an accident.

"They were not seriously injured and are on duty," he said. 

Four voting stations did not open on time due to protests.

These include Ward 8 in Ratlou Municipality in the North West, Ward 11 in Emfuleni and Ward 16 in Midvaal in Gauteng, Ward 1 in Umzimkhulu in KwaZulu-Natal and three wards in the Eastern Cape.

In Vuwani, special voting has been postponed to Tuesday. 

"The Electoral Commission yesterday decided to postpone special voting until tomorrow due to the small number of applications received in this area. Only 32 special vote applications had been received," Moepya explained.

Despite the delays the IEC says it remains confident special votes will conclude on schedule.

Voting stations are open from 08:00 until 17:00 on Monday and Tuesday.