All eyes turn to SA after voting abroad goes smoothly – IEC #Elections2019

LONDON — The long queues before the South African Embassy in London before the polls opened this weekend for overseas voting, is a good indication of how enthusiastic overseas voters are about the 8 May elections. According to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), there are 26.7m registered voters for the elections. The latest Ipsos poll puts ANC support at around 61%, with 16% for the DA and 9% for the EFF. The predictions by the Institute for Race Relations differ though. The IRR predicts 54.7% nationally for the ANC, 21.8 % for the DA and 12.2% for the EFF. Both polls see the EFF as the party that will gain the most votes. A higher turnout will favour the ANC, while a lower turnout is better for the opposition. If the voting in London where people turned up despite bad weather is any indication, the turnout in South Africa could be high. I caught up with the Senior Manager of the Electoral Operations of the Independent Electoral Commission, Granville Abrahams at the polling booths in London, who said the commission has learnt from the mistakes of the past and was pleased with how smooth the voting went. – Linda van Tilburg

Well, we acknowledged the challenges of the past and we came here with a plan. As you can see, the plan has worked. We've dealt with more than half of the people and there are no more queues. It's a trickle at this stage. Despite the windy and cold weather, the spirits were warm. As you may be aware, we're also celebrating Freedom Day today so people came here with that warmth in their hearts – with that spirit of celebration – to celebrate Freedom Day in a very special way, by casting their votes.

I see you've got Madiba overlooking you in a very good painting.

Yes, the painting and all of the artwork you find here is part of the High Commission.

So, from here, are you going back to South Africa to help with the election there?

Yes, my key role in the election is to administer the election in general. I took this break just to make sure that we are able to deal with this challenge that we have here. There's no respite. I get on the plane from here and that pulls me in to ensure that we deliver a National Election back home on the 8th of May

Today, I only cast a vote in the National Election. How does it work? Do we not vote provincially?

Currently, the legislation – as it stands – does not afford South Africans outside the country a provincial ballot. The same also applies to South Africans inside of the country. If you are outside of your province as a South African here in London or any South Africans back home that are travelling you do not get a provincial ballot, and the logic behind that is that we cannot have the ballot paper following the voter into the different provinces and the 120-odd missions abroad.

How does the election this year back home in South Africa, differ from previous years? Is there anything you're doing differently? Do you expect different numbers coming, different issues, more violence, or less violence?

I think we're prepared for everything. We've been at this for a number of years now. We've completed a number of elections. As far as our administration is concerned, we're always striving to get out the best election there on the day. The politics may have changed, but we're equal to the task.

It's a really hard election this time. I know you're not allowed to say anything politically, but what do you think? The issues are different. There's a big passion in South Africa at the moment.

I think it's very healthy for democracy as long as it's just a contestation of ideas and ideology. That augurs well for our democracy, and at times the debate can become a bit heated but this is how a vibrant democracy functions, so it is something that we should embrace. Notwithstanding that: when it comes to intolerance, then it's something that we obviously need to deal with.

So, election day: the polls would be open in South Africa from…

The polls will be open from 07:00am until 21:00pm. Anyone still in the queue by 21:00pm will be dealt with and immediately thereafter we start counting the votes. By late in the evening, the results will start coming in.

Okay. When will you expect the final result? I know it's difficult to say now, but more or less…

Well, the final result will be available once all the results are in and the norm in the past has been that by the 3rd day or the Saturday, we have dealt with getting all the results in and all of the objections, and we've been really consistent in announcing the results by the Saturday.