READER LETTER | Inadequate staffing created problems at voting station

I was among the voters at Laerskool Queenswood, Pretoria, on Wednesday. Instead of taking an hour to vote, it took more than three hours. The reason is that the IEC officials were jacks of all trades and masters of none.

A job which was supposed to be done by three people was done by one person. The IEC officials had a tough time and were struggling, as they ran like headless chickens trying to help the voters.

 I felt sorry for these officials, who seemed to be novices and lacked confidence as people on the coalface and on the receiving hand of the blame for all shortcomings by the IEC.  It is the same leadership of the IEC which assured the nation that it was all systems go to seamless elections.

Given the fumbling at the Laerskool Queenswood voting station, all systems go did not have the real meaning of the phrase. It was shoddy work by the IEE, lacking efficiency all round.

 This was a departure from the IEC we are accustomed to, which in the past had allocated different tasks to different people.  For example, an ink official remains an ink official as s/he cannot double up as a stamp official, and so on.

This drop in standards erodes the IEC’s credibility, opening up its systems to all manner of abuse, vote rigging, and manipulation. Even when it became dark, the  the lights were not bright enough.

I have serious doubts about whether the IEC workers were able to match the identity with a face or put a face to an ID as all they cared about was finding a name, and they were panicking and even struggling to find some names on the voters’ roll.

Anyone could have voted if they had come with the ID of someone who was on the voters’ roll. Another example of the shenanigans at the voting station, the voting staff could not cope with pressure that in some instances, instead of putting two inks on the thumb, they put only one ink. They did that with my grandson.

I wonder if the shortages were part of austerity measures. Is the IEC not aware that efficient governance and democracy come at a cost?

Has the IEC not learnt that long queues contribute to apathy? They discourage voters especially first-time voters from exercising their democratic right. I really doubt the IEC did things right this time around.

Judging by the standard of the elections conducted at Laerskool Queenswood, if you ask me whether the elections were free and fair, maybe the former but for the latter, I have my doubts.

Zamayedwa Nofemela, Pretoria