The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) on Wednesday night assured South Africans that the democratic process was secure after cases of electoral fraud were reported to the body.
"In the light of serious allegations regarding two potential instances of double voting, the election commission would like to assure voters and all stakeholders the overall integrity of the election process," IEC commissioner Mosotho Moepya said during a late night media briefing at the national results operations centre in Pretoria.
Moepya said there were several safeguards in the electoral process which would identify whether a person had voted twice. These included the voters' roll, which only allowed for a single registration per vote, the scanning of ID documents, the marking of a voter's thumb with indelible ink, and party agents monitoring every step of the voting, counting and result computation process.
This resulted in every voter leaving a footprint, he said.
"All of these leave a detailed footprint of voter participation in the process and can be used both separately and in combination to identify instances of electoral fraud.
"Where evidence is found to support electoral fraud, the IEC will quarantine the results of a particular voting district and pursue charges against those who left footprints with us," said Moepya.