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Voting glitches disrupted the Mowbray Cemetery Board (MCB) election on Sunday, with members reporting missing credentials, incomplete contact details and shared-email problems. The Panel moved to extend online voting until Tuesday, August 25.
By ANWAR OMAR
Multiple members attempting to vote in Sunday’s Mowbray Cemetery Board election reported significant problems with the electronic voting system.
The Panel of Independent Convenors and Electoral Officers confirmed that approximately 600 votes had been cast by the time physical voting closed at 4pm on Sunday, August 23.
Shortly after, the Panel of Independent Convenors and Electoral Officers announced its intention to extend online voting to Tuesday, citing the technical issues raised by members.
Panel chairperson Igshaan Higgins told Muslim Views that the extension requires a directive from the Western Cape High Court, which the Panel intends to request today. If granted, the extended voting period would run until 5pm on Tuesday, August 25, with the official counting process to follow once voting concludes.
Complaints
Muslim Views received a high volume of calls from members on the day, describing a consistent set of issues affecting their ability to cast a ballot.
Several members said they received no confirmation – online or otherwise – that their registration or application had been received by the Panel, leaving them uncertain whether they were correctly captured on the voters’ roll. Others said they never received the unique voter identification credentials or voting key needed to vote electronically, despite having registered in time.
Several callers also reported that their names showed up on the Panel’s system, but key contact details were missing or incorrectly captured. This caused no voting code to be sent, even though people had successfully registered.
In some families, one person registered several relatives using the same email address. But the system could only send one voting code to that email and, as a result, some family members couldn’t vote on their own.
Members in outlying or more marginalised areas also raised concerns that a single voting venue placed a disproportionate burden on those without transport, particularly given the difficulties reported with the online alternative.
Context
The Panel of Independent Convenors and Electoral Officers, appointed by the Western Cape High Court in June to oversee the reconstitution of the cemetery’s governing body, had certified in a press release issued Saturday, August 22, that “all preparations are complete” and that logistical, technical and operational arrangements for both electronic and in-person voting had been “successfully put in place”.
That same release acknowledged that some members who had registered electronically supplied information that was “inaccurate, incorrect, or incomplete,” and it urged any member who had not received their voting credentials by August 22 to attend the venue and vote in person, where eligibility would be verified on the day.
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Muslim Views was present at the voting venue for most of the day and can confirm that the scale and consistency of the complaints received on election day suggest the difficulties experienced by members may be broader than the Panel’s pre-election release anticipated.
Background
Sunday’s vote is the culmination of a process ordered by the Western Cape High Court following a March 2026 judgment which found that the previous Moslem Cemetery Board had not held an Annual General Meeting in approximately 15 years, that its 2020 constitutional amendment could not be shown to have been validly adopted, and that the board could not be regarded as a lawful or representative governing body.
The Court also granted a final interdict against the completion of a partially built mortuary facility on the cemetery grounds and abrogated the lineal descent membership provision.
The judgment directed the reopening of cemetery membership registration and the election of a new governing body under independent supervision, a process Muslim Views has covered extensively over the past several months, including disputes over the candidate nomination and vetting process ahead of Sunday’s vote.
Extension confirmed
The Panel confirmed the extension in a notice published on the Mowbray Cemetery Board’s official website shortly after physical voting concluded. The notice stated that voting commenced at 10am on Sunday, with physical voting concluding at 4pm the same day, and that it had “received queries from certain registered members who indicated that they had not received their unique voter identification details timeously and were consequently unable to cast their votes online.”
“In light of these technical challenges, and in order to ensure that all eligible registered members are afforded a reasonable opportunity to participate in the election, the Panel has resolved to extend the online voting period until 17h00 on Tuesday, 25 August 2026,” the notice read.
The Panel said the extension was necessary to allow its IT technician to investigate and resolve the reported technical issues, and to give members who could not vote online a further opportunity to do so.
It stressed that the extension applies only to members already registered by the original cut-off, and does not reopen membership registration. No further membership applications would be accepted after 4pm on Sunday, August 23.
The Panel said it “appreciates the patience and cooperation of all members” while the issues are addressed, and remains “committed to ensuring that the electoral process is conducted fairly, transparently and efficiently.”
The Panel’s proposed extension responds to the same pattern of complaints that Muslim Views received directly from members on election day, including missing voter credentials, uncaptured contact details, and shared family emails preventing individual codes from being issued.
Muslim Views has sought further comment from the Panel on the scope of the technical issues and will update this report with any response received.
