KwaZulu-Natal police have launched an investigation into a burglary at a Hillcrest voting station, where ballot papers and other sensitive electoral materials belonging to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) were allegedly stolen. The theft occurred between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, November 4. IEC materials were left inside a guard house at a school being used as a voting station.
According to KZN police spokesperson Robert Netshiunda, the IEC presiding officer had placed sensitive materials, including ballot papers, voter rolls, and ink, inside the guard house before locking the school gate and leaving on Tuesday evening. A group of about 10 people had allegedly been watching the official while she was inside the guard house. The school reportedly did not have a security guard on duty overnight.
When the presiding officer returned to the school on Wednesday morning, she found the gate open and people standing outside the premises. Upon proceeding to the guard house, she discovered that ballot papers and other IEC materials had been stolen. The matter was subsequently reported to the police, who have opened a case of burglary.
The police investigation will also seek to establish why ballot papers and other sensitive electoral materials were transported to the voting station a night before the elections and without a police escort. The South African Police Service said one of its responsibilities during elections was to escort presiding officers transporting sensitive materials between warehouses and voting stations, as well as back to warehouses.
Deputy chief electoral officer Masego Sheburi said the staff at the voting station had been relieved of their duties. He said the stolen ballots could not be used without being detected, as every ballot had to be stamped on the back, and the stolen stamp could be told apart from the ones being used on election day.
There are 20 voting stations in that ward, and measures have been put in place to ensure that should those ballots surface at any of those voting stations, they will be able to identify them. This is a second theft of election material in KwaZulu-Natal this week, after empty ballot boxes and stationery were stolen from the Amahlongwa Community Hall in Umdoni during special voting on Monday.
The incident has raised concerns about the security of electoral materials during the elections. The police and IEC are working together to investigate the matter and prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.
Key points
- The theft of IEC ballot papers and sensitive materials at a Hillcrest voting station is under investigation by KwaZulu-Natal police.
- The stolen ballots could not be used without being detected due to a unique stamp required on the back of each ballot.
- This is the second theft of election material in KwaZulu-Natal that week.
