ANC loses Electoral Court bid over late councillor candidate lists

The ANC has lost its case against the Electoral Commission in the Electoral Court in Bloemfontein. The court dismissed the party’s application on Wednesday over its failure to submit its councillor candidates before the August 28 deadline.

The party had argued that technical glitches on the commission’s system stopped it from meeting the cut-off. The IEC rejected that explanation.

Justice Lebogang Modiba is expected to give reasons for the dismissal within the next few days.

The ANC says it will appeal. In a statement issued after the judgment, party spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu said the matter was never about asking the commission to bend its rules for the governing party.

“We have consistently maintained that this matter is not about seeking preferential treatment for the ANC, nor about asking the Electoral Commission to change the rules for the benefit of our organisation,” Bhengu said.

She said the dispute turned on the legal status of candidate information the party says was captured on the commission’s electronic system before the deadline.

“Having considered the judgment, the ANC will exercise its legal rights and pursue the appropriate appeal process,” she said.

Bhengu said the party’s legal representatives would take the legal questions arising from the judgment back to court, and called on ANC members, leaders and supporters to stay calm and avoid public comment that could interfere with the case.

What the deadline means for voters

The August 28 cut-off is set by the commission and applies to every party contesting the local government elections, not only the ANC. A candidate whose name is not on the commission’s list by that date cannot appear on the ballot paper.

That is the practical question the case has raised. If the ANC’s appeal fails, wards where its candidates were not registered in time would go to the polls without an ANC name on the ballot. The party would lose the chance to contest those seats through the ballot box, whatever the merits of its explanation for the delay.

The commission has held that its system worked and that the deadline stands. It has not accepted the glitch explanation.

The legal position

Every registered party carries the same obligation to file its candidates by the published date. The commission administers that process and has no discretion written into the timetable to reopen it for one party after the fact.

The court’s dismissal means the list as it stands remains the list. Nothing changes for voters until an appeal court says otherwise.

There is no date yet for the appeal. The ANC has not said when it will file, and the commission has not commented on the party’s stated intention to challenge the ruling.

The reasons from Justice Modiba, expected in the coming days, will set out the court’s thinking and will shape whatever comes next.

Source: SABC News (website), Court dismisses ANC’s candidates lists application