Cape Town - Following the IEC in the Western Cape’s recount of votes in 14 voting districts within the Cape Town Metro, IEC spokesperson Trevor Davids has confirmed that there was no change in the City’s seat allocation.
However, the Cape Independence Party (CIP), which triggered 12 of the 14 recounts after it lodged a section 65 objection citing incorrect voting tallies and vote mis-allocation, has said as the window for further objections has now closed, it will be heading to the Electoral Court for relief.
The other two recounts were the result of a section 65 objection from the DA’s councillor, Matthew Kempthorne.
IEC spokesperson Trevor Davids said that when the recount ended and after the auditor checked the results, there was no change in the City’s seat allocation.
The recount of both Ward and Proportional Representative (PR) ballots was carried out in the presence of party agents in the following districts as per the CIP’s objection: St John’s Anglican in ward 85, Llandudno ward 74, Sun Valley and Cape Point Vineyard, both in ward 69 and Da Gama in ward 61.
The others were First Bergvliet and Meadowridge, both in ward 73, Edgemead Primary and Edgemead Community Hall, both in ward 5, Pelican Park in ward 67, Melkboss Strand in ward 23 and Durbanville Community in ward 105.
The two recounts in the objection lodged by the DA relate to a couple of voting districts in ward 29, Parkview Primary School and Mamre Minor Hall.
A Section 65 objection refers to any aspect of the voting or counting proceedings, and in the event that the objection is upheld, it would have the effect of changing the results of an election in the affected voting station, ward or municipality.
Davids said that after receiving the objections, the IEC believed that there were sufficient particulars provided to support the need for an investigation.
CIP leader Jack Miller said: “We had a net gain of 552 votes after the recount. More than we expected.
“The results show that the recount exposed more mis-allocation of votes from different parties, not just us and that we are winning more than we bargained for. The IEC was wrong to exclude other voting districts which we requested.
“With objections now closed, we will seek relief from the Electoral Court. A full investigation to widespread vote mis-allocation should take place to preserve the integrity of the electoral process.”
Asked what alerted the party to the fact that there may be a need for a recount, Miller said that after the original vote count was completed, they began getting reports from party agents suggesting they had to correct counting officers and presiding officers on the vote totals attributed to the party.
“In short, we were alerted to submit an objection by numerous erroneous and suspicious zero vote totals in areas we were performing strongly in, and where party agents observed the vote and reported significant vote totals, but the IEC website recorded a total of zero.
“It wasn't altogether clear if this was isolated or widespread given that at that point on the Tuesday after the election, the IEC had only tabulated 10% of the votes Citywide.
“The first real red flag was ward 69, King of Kings Baptist Church, where the party agent recorded 88 votes, but the IEC website recorded a vote total of zero. In the days following the deadline, it has become more and more apparent that this problem was far more widespread than initially thought,” said Miller.
mwangi.githahu@inl.co.za