No selfies allowed: our favourite #thumbies from South African voters

South Africans stood in queues around the country yesterday, as over 5.9-million people headed to the polls to have their say in the fifth national and provincial democratic elections.

But this time around, voting was a very different experience — with the growing levels of smartphone and social media adoption in the country, these elections were Instagrammed, live-tweeted, shared and photographed by millions.

After concerns that voters’ privacy could be compromised, the Independent Electoral Commission even banned selfies in the booths, warning that rule breakers would be arrested and could face a fine or up to a year in prison. Instead, many voters opted to take photos from the queue or share #thumbies once they’d been inked.

Here are a few of our favourites:

No Selfie's only Thumbie's ?? #Thumbie #Selfie #Elections2014 #VoteSA @memeburn pic.twitter.com/10JvVSR3FA

— Angela Labuschagne (@angielabu) May 7, 2014

We voted. #CatParty #thumbie @memeburn @MichAtagana pic.twitter.com/Aj5UPTVs3d

— Neal T (@blindcripple) May 7, 2014

Yo, @memeburn. This is my #thumbie ?? pic.twitter.com/UrtSgpe5kh

— Alessio La Ruffa (@alessiolr) May 7, 2014