‘Room for improvement’ in IEC performance: Defend our Democracy

Civil society watchdog group Defend our Democracy has declared the elections “broadly free and fair” but believes the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) needs to improve its performance.

On Sunday the group detailed election shortcomings while also commending the IEC for fulfilling its mandate without “major issues”, such as widespread violence.

“There were no major issues of disruption, intimidation or violence, even as we recognise there were incidents of concern that call for learning and improvement from the IEC.”

The assessment was based on preliminary reports from Defend our Democracy’s Election Watch observer campaign made up of 1,000 accredited observers “who visited more than 500 voting stations and filed more than 1,500 reports during the voting and counting process”.

“Reports from 466 of 504 voting stations tracked via the app indicated compliance. There were no major issues of disruption, intimidation or violence.

“At the remainder, issues flagged related to voter management devices not working; stations running out of ballots; lengthy queues that sometimes resulted in tempers flaring; voters who had not changed their residential addresses or filed a section 24{a) application; power outages at voting stations in the south of Johannesburg; and isolated incidences of political tension.

“Throughout this electoral period Defend our Democracy has communicated with fellow observer organisations, whose initial reports similarly reflect the overall integrity of the elections has been maintained. We do, however, believe there is room for improvement.”

This included better performing voter management devices to prevent queues. The IEC also needed to improve its voter education to avoid voter frustration, as many potential voters were unaware about changing their residential address to vote.

The commission needed to ensure its leader board system was fully-functional to allow “real time transparency”.

Looking ahead to the coalition talks, the group urged the security cluster to be on alert for potential disruption. It also urged parties to prioritise the broad interests of the nation rather than narrow party interests.

“It should not be about political parties negotiating who ‘gets which part of the pie’. Coalition-making needs to be collaborative and inclusive and enjoy broad societal support. It should entail active engagement with civil society and other sectors throughout the process.”

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