With only three weeks to go before the next voter registration drive, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has still failed to deliver on its promises to update its Web site.
The next voter registration drive is scheduled for 7 and 8 February.
While the IEC has recognised there are major problems with its Web site, it has been slow in solving them.
On 7 November 2008, IEC CEO advocate Pansy Tlakula admitted to issues with the Web site and promised recourse. “There is also the challenge of cross-browser compatibility. At the moment, our Web site cannot handle any other browser other than Microsoft Internet Explorer. This should be sorted within the next two months.”
Also in November last year, the IEC announced it would spend R3 million on fixing the Web site to ensure existing issues are resolved before the 2009 national elections.
On 9 January, when ITWeb approached the IEC for details of its updates, the electoral body stated: “The IEC is presently working on the Web site to ensure compatibility with all browsers and the planned date for readiness is 15 January 2009.”
Damien de Beer, independent Internet professional, commented on the status of the Web site, saying: “Unfortunately, they haven't changed anything yet. The same problems still exist.”
Major problems
At the previous registration drive, there were two major problems identified with the IEC site.
The first issue was the Web site's inability to handle surges in user volumes. Even prior to the voter registration weekend, Tlakula released a statement urging visitors to the site to be patient: “We are increasing capacity, but it is not easily recognisable because, as we increase the capacity, it gets taken up. We urge people to be patient as all their requests will be processed.”
In November last year, the Web site received more than 180 000 visitors - this was prior to the voter registration weekend. Some 101 000 of the hits were from visitors checking their registrations, while 37 000 were from users enquiring where to register to vote in the elections.
The Web site was unable to handle these large numbers and the surge which followed over the registration weekend and subsequently crashed.
The second major issue is around browser incompatibility. Complaints over this issue surfaced in August 2008. The IEC Web site has been exclusively designed for Internet Explorer, which means users of Web browsers such as Netscape, Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome cannot access the site.
At the time of publication, the IEC said it was “still busy” with updates.
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