IEC Backs Implementation of Electronic Voting, South Africans Concerned It Will Lead to Vote Rigging
- The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) talked up the advantages of electronic voting
- The IEC believes the introduction of the process will ensure more efficiency and cost-effectiveness
- South Africans were concerned that the electronic system would lead to more vote rigging in the future
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Briefly News journalist Byron Pillay has dedicated a decade to reporting on the South African political landscape, crime, and social issues. He spent 10 years working for the Northern Natal Courier before transitioning to online journalism.
FREE STATE - The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has backed the introduction of electronic voting (e-voting), saying it would promote efficiency and inclusivity, but South Africans aren’t as sure.
The IEC has talked up the benefits of e-voting, noting that it would save time and money as well. The submissions were made to stakeholders in Bloemfontein on 15 August 2025.
Why is e-voting better according to the IEC?
Head of Research, Thabo Rapoo, talked up the advantages of e-voting, saying that it would be easier to cast and count votes, thus saving time and ensuring fair voting results. He also noted that the machines would allow people with disabilities to cast their votes more seamlessly.
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“Everybody can access them, including people with disabilities. Some of the machines can be designed in such a way that people who are blind or people who are deaf can use them.
“Some of them have audio functionalities, where if you’re blind, you can use headphones to hear. For those people who are blind, the machine can be optimised to use Braille. They are also multilingual,” Rapoo said.
IEC official believes e-voting will attract younger voters
Provincial Electoral Officer in the Free State, Jabulani Tshabalala, said that the introduction of electronic voting also had the possibility of increasing voter turnout, especially among young people.
In 2024, only 58.6% of the registered voter population cast their ballots. That is a stark decline from the 89.3% that voted in 1999. Of a registered voter population of 27.7 million people, only 16.2 million made their voices heard through their votes.
“It will also attract the youth because they tend to be technologically savvy. They tend to do things digitally. So, if we introduce this kind of system, it can be an advantage for them,” he said.
He says e-voting is more efficient and cost-effective than manual voting, as it uses less paper, and this in turn can reduce costs.
Tshabalala also added that another perk was the cost savings, as there wouldn’t be a need to print ballot forms anymore, and the only real expenses going forward would be on maintenance.
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How did South Africans react?
Social media users weighed in on electronic voting, with many concerned that it was easier to rig the elections.
Mvuselelo Dule said:
“Yes, in an honest country or government. As long as the IEC officials are ANC deployed, I won't trust that system. You need independent people to monitor the system, not the current ones.”
Lebo Mthabela stated:
“Oh, that's the next plan, on how to keep ANC in power, via e-vote rigging. They think we are from Kampala, these ones.”
Sikhulile C Ndlovu added:
“So they can programme the systems to calculate ANC votes time two.”
Banele Phumlani Mdakane urged:
“Please make sure that its reliability is tested by an independent company.”
Thandiwe Ngo Memela Ngwekazi added:
“If only as individuals we could log onto the system to see if our vote was accurately entered. Even though we know there will be ‘ghosts’ who vote as well to favour the leading party.”
Sthe Nzama joked:
“The MK Party is going to take them to the Constitutional Court.”
Spha Alwande noted:
“Vote rigging can be much easier.”
Bongani Mgubela stated:
“If it's not open to manipulation, I am for e-voting. We have to move with the times.”
Charmaine Nezar Coetzee said:
“So, this is the new scam to ensure the ANC does not collapse in the next election.”
IEC faced unprecedented challenges during 2024 elections
Briefly News reported that the IEC appeared before Parliament to discuss the challenges it faced during the 2024 elections.
The IEC's top officials said that the Commission faced court cases and misinformation from social media.
South Africans questioned the validity of the elections, and some believed that there was voter tampering.
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Source: Briefly News
