The Electoral Commission says the votes of those residing abroad will still be kept secret, despite concerns about their ballots being placed in two envelopes. Around 30 000 South Africans living abroad cast their votes as South Africa marked Freedom Day on Saturday, hoping to make a difference in the 2019 General Elections.
The rest of South Africa goes to the polls on May 8.
The IEC’s chief electoral officer, Sy Mamabolo, has expressed satisfaction with the way voting has progressed abroad.
“The whole envelope system is meant to ensure firstly, the integrity of the process because it allows for verification procedures. Secondly, once the verification procedures are undertaken, the outer envelope is removed and the envelope with no personal details of the voter are then mixed up with the general votes cast; so in that way, the secrecy of the voters are maintained. It is the same principle we use for special votes in SA.”
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