Ballot booklets lost on the highway

Published May 5, 2014

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Cape Town - An electoral official has been fired after 10 ballot booklets fell off a vehicle on the N1 in Cape Town on Saturday evening, Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), provincial head Courtney Sampson said.

Each booklet has 100 ballot sheets.

The booklets, which were retrieved on Sunday morning, were to be used for the national vote at polling stations in the Milnerton area, Sampson said. He would not be drawn on who the official was, but said the man had been responsible for the distribution of voting materials in the Milnerton area.

The official had been transporting booklets from the IEC offices in Bellville to a storage in Milnerton on Saturday, but when he arrived, found the storage place closed and returned to Bellville.

The official was not accompanied by police while transporting the ballot booklets.

Sampson said the incident was immediately reported when the official realised the booklets were missing.

Sampson said the IEC met representatives of all the political parties on the Provincial Political Party Liaison Committee to discuss the incident. “We assure the public that the incident poses no threat to the electoral process as such instances are easily managed,” he said.

Sampson said the booklets had all been isolated and removed from the allocated election materials.

“These ballots will be replaced by buffer stock. Ballot papers cannot be reproduced,” said Sampson.

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Cape Times

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