The commission says despite increase in indelible agent, application of Vaseline enabled voters to remove ink mark
A voter gets her thumb marked before she casts her vote during the sixth general election at the Cottanlands Primary school 45 kilometres north of Durban, on May 8, 2019. Picture: RAJESH JANTILAL
Preliminary tests have been done on a batch of markers used to ink voters’ thumbs on election day on May 8‚ the Electoral Commission of SA says.IEC deputy CEO Masego Shiburi said a final determination was yet to be made on whether the pens were faulty‚ but suggested that the effectiveness of the pens may have been counteracted by “agents” applied to the hands of voters.
There were numerous reports by voters who claimed‚ and demonstrated how‚ the indelible ink used on their thumbs could be washed off. This could have made it easier for a person who had already voted to cast a second vote at another station.“The active component [making it hard to remove] in the indelible ink is silver nitrate.
Shiburi‚ who declined to be drawn further on the preliminary test results‚ said the IEC hoped to provide an update by Monday‚ once it had received a comprehensive report on the tests.Chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo said the commission and political parties would have to reconsider how the commission applied the section 24 voting procedure because it undermined the ability for planning.
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