The Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) has dismissed claims that it has been used as a tool by some political parties to further their own political ends, saying that it has acted in an equal manner towards all parties.
The IEC’s independence and credibility were recently questioned by DA federal council chair Helen Zille and EFF leader Julius Malema, who both accused the electoral body of reopening its process to submit candidate names so as to benefit the ANC, which missed the initial deadline of August 23.
“We regard the core mandate of the commission as being one that facilitates free and fair elections and also one that ensures all who are participating — whether they are candidates, political parties or voters themselves — are treated equally and have equal access,” IEC vice-chair Janet Love said at a media briefing on Thursday.
Before the IEC extended the deadline to submit names, the ANC had failed to submit candidates to contest elections in 93 municipalities, putting its status as the majority party in various municipal councils in doubt. The IEC reopened the candidates registration process after the Constitutional Court rejected the commission’s application to postpone the elections to February.
The EFF has joined the DA’s Constitutional Court application to oppose the IEC’s decision to reopen candidate list registration, while the ANC and the IEC have filed papers to oppose the application.
Civil society organisation Freedom Under Law (FUL) maintains that the IEC decision to reopen the process to submit candidates is lawful considering the Constitutional Court’s order. It says the top court should not consider the DA application to force the IEC to reverse its decision to reopen the submission process.
“The court is being used as a political boxing ring with each party deriding the others as well as the Electoral Commission and attempting to use the court for its own political ends,” says FUL CEO Nicole Fritz.
In the application to be admitted as a friend of the court, Fritz says the court should not be co-opted by political parties to do their bidding.
“In those circumstances, courts find themselves in the front lines and must, under considerable pressure, construct a working theory to guide their institution as to whether to accede or refuse the demands for what often appears to be heavy political lifting,” she says.
The IEC will hold a voter registration weekend on September 18 and 19 to enable eligible voters to register or amend their details if they have moved or changed their address. This will be the last opportunity to physically register to vote ahead of the November polls as the voters roll is due to close on September 20 when the date of elections is officially proclaimed.
Online registration, which has been used by more than 156,000 eligible voters, will also close on Monday.
IEC CEO Sy Mamabolo says 23,151 registration stations will be in operation during the weekend and Covid-19 protocols will be observed.
“Proof of address is not a requirement for purposes of registration. Jurisprudence from our courts provides that the commission must record a voter’s address and ensure that each voter is registered within a ward in which they are ordinarily resident,” he said.
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