MARY ALEXANDER • 18 JUNE 2024

A video of ballot boxes piled high in a series of storerooms has been circulating on social media since 3 June 2024 with the claim that “uncounted” votes from South Africa’s recent elections are inside.*

The boxes carry the logo of the country’s Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).

“Uncounted sealed boxes discovered stored away,” a typical caption reads. “IEC, we didn’t stand in long queues for our votes to be hidden.” At one point the videographer demonstrates that each box is held closed with a cable tie.

South Africa’s national and provincial elections took place on 29 May, with a 58.6% voter turnout. The results were announced on 2 June. The viral video appeared the next day.

The election results were historic. The African National Congress lost the majority it had held since 1994, garnering only 40.2% of the national vote. The Democratic Alliance (DA) won 21.8% and the newcomer uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK Party) – headed by former president Jacob Zuma – 14.6%.

The DA was re-elected to the government of the Western Cape province. In KwaZulu-Natal, the MK Party won 45.6% of the provincial vote.

Some social media users claim the “hidden” boxes contain votes cast in the Western Cape. Others say they affected the MK Party’s results in KwaZulu-Natal.

Variations on the claim include:

• THIS IS THE “FRAUD” AND “CORRUPTION” YOUR OFFICIALS HAVE DONE IN KZN…THEY STOLE PEOPLE’S VOTE!!!
• Western Cape Election has been rigged by Zionists… We don’t recognize Alan Winde as Western Cape Premier
• IEC exposed for not counting hundreds of ballot boxes
• MK Party’s 2/3rd majority is locked up in here!

In mid-June the MK Party filed an application with the electoral court to have the results of the election nullified, claiming it was not “free and fair”. Days before, the constitutional court dismissed the party’s application to prevent the first sitting of parliament.

But does the video really show sealed and hidden ballot boxes full of votes the IEC did not count?

‘In the absence of evidence, do not spread false information’

In the first few seconds of the video you can see the province, municipal code and voting district (VD) number set out in the form printed on IEC ballot boxes.

These handwritten details reveal that the votes inside were cast in KwaZulu-Natal, not the Western Cape.

We were also able to discern two VD numbers: 43950898 and 4395084, both in the Msunduzi municipality of KwaZulu-Natal (municipal code KZN 225).

We looked up the two districts’ national voting data on the IEC’s 2024 results portal. In both a clear majority of votes went to the MK Party (62% in the first district and 72% in the second). For Msunduzi as a whole, the MK Party won 52.6% of the vote.

The video is clearly not proof that the IEC “rigged” results in the Western Cape – the votes were cast in KwaZulu-Natal. And if it shows an attempt to “lock up” votes for the MK Party, the attempt wasn’t effective.

On the day the claim appeared online, the IEC took to X/Twitter to dismiss it. Resealed ballot boxes, the commission said, had by law to be retained for six months. And the boxes weren’t “hidden”: they were stored in an official IEC warehouse.

It’s worth quoting the IEC’s response in full:

This video shows election materials stored and awaiting roll-back from voting districts to the IEC provincial warehouse. This includes counted ballots, which are sealed inside ballot boxes, voter management devices and other security and bulk materials. By law, all ballots from an election must be retained for a period of six months. Note that, after counting, voting station diaries and results slips are signed off by all party agents present before the results are uploaded. In the absence of any evidence to substantiate your claims, do not spread false information.

This video shows election materials stored and awaiting roll-back from voting districts to the IEC provincial warehouse. This includes counted ballots, which are sealed inside ballot boxes, voter management devices and other security and bulk materials. By law, all ballots from…

— IEC South Africa (@IECSouthAfrica) June 3, 2024

False claims of election rigging are on the uptick across the world, from Nigeria and Brazil to Slovakia and, notoriously, the United States. These claims undermine democracy and people’s faith in their governments.

There is no evidence that the video shows “hidden” boxes full of “uncounted” votes from South Africa’s pivotal 2024 elections.

* Some Facebook and Instagram users may have deleted their posts after Meta’s Third-Party Fact-Checking Program rated their claims as untrue.

Published by Africa Check on 21 June 2024

The post Zero evidence video shows boxes of ‘hidden’, ‘uncounted’ votes cast in South Africa’s 2024 elections appeared first on South Africa Gateway.

MARY ALEXANDER • 5 MARCH 2024

South Africans are set to vote on 29 May 2024 in what could be the country’s most game-changing elections in 30 years. Polls suggest the ruling African National Congress (ANC) may lose the majority it has held since 1994.

As campaign fever rises, an old rumour has surfaced on social media.*

It claims that if a voter doesn’t cast their ballot, that vote automatically goes to the ANC – or, more generally, the “ruling party”.

The rumour has many versions, all with the same basic claim:

• If you were a voter before then suddenly stopped voting , the ruling party which happens to be the current government automatically counts your vote towards theirs regardless of whether or not you voted. this is somehow one of their corrupt tendencies/system which is why people are encouraged to vote.
• I am also here to remind you that if you do not vote, your vote automatically goes to the ruling party which is ANC.
• We as young people don’t like to go and vote, one thing some of us aren’t aware of is, if we don’t our votes automatically goes to the ruling party.
• In case you didn’t know (I also didn’t know and it took me a while to grasp it), if you’re registered to vote but you do NOT vote, apparently that vote automatically goes to the ruling party.. just saying!
• Even if you are registered to vote, if you decide not to vote on the elections day, your vote will automatically fall under ANC. Simply because ANC is the ruling party.

Elections for South Africa’s national parliament and nine provincial governments are held every five years. The previous elections in 2019 saw support for the ANC drop to 57.5% of the national vote, its lowest outcome yet.

The main opposition parties are the Democratic Alliance, which won 20.8% of the vote in 2019, and the Economic Freedom Fighters, which scored 10.8%.

All South African citizens aged 18 and over are eligible to vote. But they first have to register with the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), which adds their details to the voter’s roll.

The claim that votes not cast in the 2024 elections will “automatically” go to the ruling party can also be seen here, here, here, here, here, here and here. But is it true?

‘Why would they bother if we vote or not?’

South Africa’s Electoral Act of 1998 sets out how votes are counted in elections. There’s no mention in the act or any of its amendments that if a registered voter doesn’t vote, that vote automatically goes to the ruling party.

The IEC keeps an online database of election statistics going back to 1994. One of those stats is voter turnout, or the number of registered voters who actually turned up at the polls on election day.

In 2019 voter turnout was 66.05%. This means that out of 26,756,649 registered voters, 17,672,851 cast their vote (including 235,472 spoiled ballots). It also means that 9,083,798 voters did not vote.

These 9 million non-votes did not “go to” the ANC.

The ruling party received 10,026,475 votes, or 57.5% of all valid votes (excluding spoiled ballots), giving it 230 of the 400 seats in parliament.

If the 9 million non-voting ballots were then credited to the ANC its share would have risen to an impossible 109.59% of all valid votes. And if its total was made up of those 9 million non-votes then only 5.4% of valid votes were actually cast for the ANC – highly unlikely, given the former liberation movement’s continued (if waning) popularity.

‘There is absolutely no truth to the rumour’ – electoral commission

Some social media users make a good argument against the claim.

“If it’s true why would they [the ANC] even bother if we vote or not, because us not voting would automatically make sure that they remain in power right? So why would they encourage us?”

In other words, if the claim were true it would be in the ANC’s interest if voters stayed away from the polls. Yet the party campaigns actively and has urged people to go out and vote.

The rumour is more than a decade old, doing the rounds on social media since at least South Africa’s 2011 municipal elections. It cropped up again during national elections in 2014 (here and here) and 2019 (here and here).

In 2019 it caught the attention of the IEC, which took to X (then Twitter) to debunk it.

“There is absolutely no truth to the rumour that if you don’t vote your vote will go to the ruling (or any other) party,” the commission tweeted. “Only valid votes cast in an election are counted in the result. Thanks for checking.”

There is absolutely no truth to the rumour that if you don’t vote your vote will go to the ruling (or any other) party. Only valid votes cast in an election are counted in the result. Thanks for checking.

— IEC South Africa (@IECSouthAfrica) May 8, 2019

It’s not true that if you don’t vote, your vote automatically goes to the ruling party.

The rumour may come from an argument that people who choose not to vote – for whatever reason – somehow benefit the ruling party. But even that argument has holes in it. There is no saying which party stayaway voters would have voted for if they had cast their ballots.

* Some Facebook and Instagram users may have deleted their posts after Meta’s Third-Party Fact-Checking Program rated their claims as untrue.

Published by Africa Check on 8 March 2024

The post If you don’t vote in South Africa’s elections, your vote goes to the ruling party? No, only valid votes counted appeared first on South Africa Gateway.