DA tells voters to mark every ballot as stations stay open until 9pm

The Democratic Alliance spent election day telling voters to use every ballot they are handed, in a post on its official X account that set out what people should expect at their station before polls close at 9pm.

“Today your vote can ensure your town or city works for all,” the party wrote. “Stations are open. Make sure you cast your vote before 9pm.”

The post then listed the sequence the party says voters will meet: an election official checks your ID, your thumbnail is marked with ink, and you receive two ballots in a metro or three in a local municipality. It closed with “Vote DA on every ballot” and the slogan “STOP THE CHAOS. START SERVICE DELIVERY.”

The instruction to mark every ballot is the practical heart of the message. In metros, voters are choosing both ward councillors and the councils that run the cities, and the party is asking for its mark on each of them rather than on a single contest.

The party’s framing sets its promise of service delivery against what it calls chaos, positioning the election as a choice about whether municipalities function. That is the DA’s own characterisation of the contest, offered to voters as they decide.

Beyond the mechanics, the post carries no claim about turnout, no result and no account of how voting was proceeding on the day. It is a get-out-the-vote message from a party asking for support on every line of the ballot before stations close at 9pm.