World Update
South Africa election commission portal crashes during vote count
The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has
apologised for the glitch on its results viewing portal.
The results page had gone blank early Friday morning but was
later restored after roughly two hours.
At the time of the glitch, the IEC said local offices
continued to capture results while its technicians were working on restoring
services.
The commission did not state a reason for the disruption but
assured that results have not been compromised.
“All services have since been restored and the leaderboard
is working normally. Result processing continues unaffected,” the IEC said in a
statement.
When the portal returned, results had come in from 54.9
percent of polling stations, giving the ruling African National Congress (ANC)
41.86 percent of votes cast.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) had 23.67 percent while the
Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) secured 19.98 percent.
A final result near the current preliminary 42 percent would
be a steep tumble for the ANC which achieved its lowest victory margin of 57.5
percent in the 2019 elections.
It would also coerce incumbent President Cyril Ramaphosa,
who is seeking re-election, to begin negotiations for a coalition government —
stoking political uncertainty that could bleed into the country’s shaky
economic prospects.
