------------------57B27A  221049Z /38    
O 221046Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY PRETORIA
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8215
INFO SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS PRETORIA 000805 
 
FOR AF/S WILLS, JAMES AND MARBURG 
FOR DRL WILLET AND GILBRIDE 
 
E.O. 12958:N/A 
TAGS: KDEM ASEC SF
SUBJECT: SOUTH AFRICA VOTES: SITUATION REPORT #1 
 
¶1. Summary:  Mission observer teams and local media outlets report generally smooth operations as polls opened April 22 for South Africa's fourth national election since democracy was established in 
¶1994.  Days before the vote, the Independent Electoral Commission predicted an eighty percent turn out, a prediction reiterated by local media at 0945 local time.  98 percent of polling stations were 
reported open on time. 100 of over 14,000 stations did not open on time.  The Embassy has deployed 150 observers throughout the country.  The following is a sampling of anecdotal reporting from 
embassy reporting teams and local media outlets.   End Summary. 
 
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PARTIES KNOW THE DRILL 
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¶2. All Mission teams have confirmed the presence of party observers in polling stations, working in concert with Independent Election Commission (IEC) officials to protect the sanctity of the vote. 
Not surprisingly, the ANC, with the greatest manpower and resources, has deployed party observers to almost every polling station.  The ANC has also set up tables near many stations, ostensibly to 
safeguard the rights of their voters; few parties have complained about this presence.  Embassy teams have reported witnessing COPE and DA buses bringing elderly voters to polling stations. 
 
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ONE PERSON, ONE VOTE? 
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¶3.  Most polling stations are following a four-step verification and safeguard process: matching the voter to his/her picture; verifying the voter's presence on the national and provincial registries; 
inking the voter's hand; and, stamping the voter's ID before receiving a ballot.  Voting stations are three-walled boxes without curtains, but the sanctity of the vote seems to be preserved nonetheless.  Many teams have also verified that ballot boxes were empty at the start of polls.  In some places, queues are long, but people were "smiling and voting undramatically." 
 
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BUMPS IN THE ROAD 
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¶4.  Reports of isolated irregularities have come in from Embassy teams and the media.  In some polling stations, there was only one ballot box for both national and provincial ballots; party observers, however, agreed not to lodge complaints.  Embassy observers witnessed ANC and COPE supporters arguing in East London, but voters were not impeded.  Media reports confirm that pre-marked 
ballots for IFP in Ulundi in Kwazulu-Natal (KZN) were discovered, and the polling station head was arrested and charged ith election fraud.  By mid-morning, polling stations in KZN were running out of 
computer voter receipt paper and running low on indelible ink.  In several locations, party representatives, most often African National Congress (ANC) representatives, were stationed at tables 
within restricted areas at polling stations, but were not interfereing with voting. 
 
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OUR SECURITY SECURED 
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¶5.  RSO is in contact with South African Diplomatic Police, who are aware of the wherabouts of our 31 teams comprised of approximately 150 volunteers.  South African Police Service (SAPS) senior 
management have assured us that security situation is calm nationwide. 
 
LA LIME