IEC respond to the complaints of Voter Management Devices (VMD’s)

Mdunge Skhumbuzo

The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has responded to the complaints of Voter Management Devices

(VMD’s) versus the old Zip Zip machines.

IEC Chairperson, Glen Mashinini, had disclosed that during the election day, they noted the complaints of
about 6000 registered voters who could not be detected when they approached their voting station on Tuesday

morning.

The difference between VMD and Zip Zip machines

According to the IEC Chief Electoral Officer; Sy Mamabolo said "VMD’s are devices that look like tablets, and are 'connected to the internet. When the signal is weak or non-existent, information such as ID’s, voter’s
address can be stored and uploaded when the device is in contact again with a strong internet. VMD’s has
replaced the zip zip machines that the IEC has used for over 20 years since 1998."

Mashinini further said after hearing the news of 6000 voter’s who could not be detected, they simultaneously
sent an SMS to all voters to come back and vote.

"Where the narrative comes from about VMD’s being offline and hampering the voting process. The VMD’s are fully equipped to operate in an offline mode. So, it is not true that it has delayed the process. We are aware of
one occurrence during the day where we briefly had delays on the machines. We fixed that by issuing
instructions to all of our voting officials to restart the machines." Mashinini said.