Pre-marked ballots article a hoax, says IEC
The IEC has reported a hoax article online claiming the discovery of pre-marked ballot papers to the police.
|||Durban - The IEC has reported a hoax article online claiming the discovery of pre-marked ballot papers to the police.
The article claiming two people were arrested in possession of marked ballot papers has been shared thousands of times on social media.
It appears to have first been posted on the website Gossip Mill. The name Jade Wilsons appears as the only writer on most of the stories on the website.
The social media icons show the article was shared 19 000 times. Some who shared it questioned its veracity while others seemed to believe the hoax.
The hoax article alleges the pair were arrested in a roadblock in Tembisa, Gauteng, with 80 000 ballot papers already marked for the ANC.
It quotes an unnamed arresting police officer and ANC officials in the province distancing the party from the ballot papers allegedly in a ballot box.
IEC spokeswoman, Kate Bapela, said the article was completely false. They had heard about it on Monday and traced its source, which they in turn reported to the police.
“There is no truth to the post. Ballot papers are highly secured and all security officials are escorted by police,” she said.
She said the fact that this had surfaced on social media rather than on official IEC communication channels should have raised red flags.
The IEC had never shied away from clarifying issues, even negative ones, she said.
Last week the IEC issued a statement regarding the theft of boxes containing ballot papers from a delivery vehicle in Dobsonville, Soweto.
Bapela said: “as part of our security measures, each ballot book has a unique serial number allowing the Electoral Commission to identify exactly which ballots are affected and to quarantine these immediately.”
Regarding the hoax article, which seems to have surfaced on Monday, she said: “Elections by design are a very emotional time. Every election sees its own misleading, irregular content develop on social media. In my view anything from social media should not be regarded as authoritative, especially when it does not come from official sources.”
She said a lot of work had gone into preparing the country for elections and something like this undermined the voter education which had been conducted from the first elections to this one.
The article, which is not dated, also features a photograph of a roadblock and one of the ballot papers to illustrate the story.
However, on closer inspection, the ballot paper photographed appears to be for a national election. It features party leaders next to the political party’s name and symbol. Among the most telling discrepancies, is that of Helen Zille’s photo on the ballot as DA leader. The ballot papers for Wednesday’s election have current DA leader Mmusi Maimane’s headshot.
Gauteng provincial electoral officer, Masego Sheburi, said all ballot papers printed were accounted for. “We can’t stop people from manufacturing stories but we know our numbers and we have control measures that are in place.”
When polls close, IEC officials at the voting stations would again reconcile the ballots in the presence of representatives of political parties.
Daily News