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The original was posted on /r/worldnews by /u/Serious_Journalist14 on 2024-05-31 21:32:43+00:00.
South Africa quietly excludes citizens in Israel from voting amid growing tensions
Submitted 2 years ago by bot@lemmit.online [bot] to worldnews@lemmit.online
https://www.jpost.com/international/article-804537
autotldr@lemmings.world [bot] 2 years ago
This is the best summary I could come up with:
According to The South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD,) the embassy closed “suddenly … with no provisions.” The embassy’s sudden closure created many issues for SA citizens who are currently residing in Israel, and the SAJBD worked “continuously with International Relations to assist some of these people resolve serious issues including emergency passports, getting documents and a very ill baby requiring an ID for medical care,” it noted to the Post.
In addition to the “serious issues” the SAJB referred to, according to a press release on behalf of the South African Zionist Federation (SAZF,) South Africans in Israel (Jewish and non-Jewish,) were unable to vote in their national elections since both the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) and the Electoral Commission (IEC) failed to inform the public that the temporary closure of the voting mission would not be lifted in time for the elections which were supposed to take place between 17-18 May.
However, despite winning in court, “nothing transcribed into action, hence a low voter turnout abroad,” noted Councilman Anstey to the Post.
“Voting is one of the constitutional obligations of our government to its citizens abroad and depriving them of this facility is unacceptable,” the SAJBD stated to the Post.
A SA citizen, writer, and researcher at Ben Gurion University Kenneth Mokgatlhe expressed his opinion and said, “It is so disappointing to me that I will not be able to execute my national duty to vote for my desired government.
I was told by IEC officials that I should go to other missions outside Israel to vote, such as Ramallah, Amman, or Cairo,” as cited in SAZF’s press release.
The original article contains 848 words, the summary contains 275 words. Saved 68%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!