VOTERS LET SECRET OUT

MANZINI – Smartphones have ensured that the secret ballot is no longer private.

This was realised yesterday during the special voting exercise held at the Mavuso Trade and Exhibition Centre, where voters used their cellphones to take pictures of candidates they had voted for, much against the rules of the ‘secret ballot’.

After making the X mark across the face of their chosen candidate, the voters would then send WhatsApp messages to the candidates they had voted for as evidence that they had indeed voted for them.

With the new WhatsApp feature which shows that a message has been forwarded, it would be impossible to get the picture from another voter as it would be a clear sign that the photograph was not an original screenshot. 
Voters, as is the law, were allowed to be in the polling booth on their own and that was when they sneaked in an opportunity to take pictures of who they had voted for.

One woman, when interviewed, confirmed that she had done so to give proof to the candidate that she had voted for her.
“I want my preferred candidate to have a peace of mind knowing that I voted for her,” she said.
Others stated that the candidates had demanded pictorial evidence of whom they had voted for.

“The candidates said they have spent a lot of money on people who alleged that they voted for them yet it was not the situation,” said another voter.
Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) Chairperson, Chief Gija said he was not aware of the latest twist as he had not yet been briefed by the team as he was not at Mavuso.
He said it would be unfortunate if voters had taken such steps because it was known that voting was held under a secret ballot.
He said the fact that yesterday was reserved for professionals to vote, they had hoped that they would follow the law.
One of the candidates under the Hhohho Region, however, said he did not approve of the antics used by some of their competitors.
“This can have a negative effect in the sense that a person could start tallying up the number of votes they were expecting from the special voting exercise, yet the final result could give far less figures,” said the candidate. Although members of the public were discouraged by the police from using their cellphones inside the polling station, it was impossible to stop one from taking pictures once in the privacy of the polling booth. The EBC had reserved the upper galleries of the Mavuso Trade and Exhibition Centre pavilions for the candidates, elections observers and the media, to follow the proceedings as each voter made their choice.
Some of the voters would boldly wave at the candidates after depositing their votes, while others avoided eye contact with nominees. 

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