The African National Congress (ANC) has taken the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) to the Constitutional Court in a bid to overturn its exclusion from contesting in six municipalities in the upcoming municipal elections. The party argues that the IEC's online portal system requires a "submit as final" button to be clicked for candidate nominations to be valid, and that this rule is unfair. The ANC, led by Fikile Mbalula, claims that it was unfairly excluded from contesting in the municipalities due to technical issues with the system.
The IEC has pushed back on the ANC's appeal, arguing that the party's failure to click the "submit as final" button was a critical error. According to IEC deputy chief electoral officer Akhtari Henning, the ANC had been aware of the requirement for 10 years and had consistently complied with it in 251 municipalities. Henning argues that the ANC's decision to leave the final submission step to the last moment for a number of municipalities meant that it could not complete the process in time.
The litigation centers on the IEC's online candidate nomination system (OCNS), which requires parties to upload candidate information and then click the "submit as final" button to complete the nomination process. The ANC argues that pressing "submit as final" is not a condition of a valid electronic submission under the Municipal Electoral Act and regulations. The party claims that a total of 2,274 candidates from different parties were captured on the system but not finally submitted by the deadline, affecting voters' political rights in the affected municipalities.
The IEC argues that the ANC's litigation effectively challenges a decision taken by the commission in 2016 to regulate the submission of candidates contesting an election. Henning says that the commission's rule requiring a final submission was designed to confirm a political party's final decision on the list, and that until the "submit as final" button is clicked, nominations remain provisional and can be withdrawn or amended.
The Electoral Court dismissed the ANC's appeal against the IEC's decision, finding that the requirement to click "submit as final" was important to confirm a political party's final decision on the list. The court found that uploading and capturing nominations onto the system without completing the last step of final submission does not constitute a submission or nomination in terms of the requirements of the law.
The ANC is seeking to contest elections for proportional representation (PR) in four municipalities, but is currently only able to contest for ward councillors. In two municipalities, the party is not contesting wards or the PR ballots in the November 4 municipal elections. The top court's judgment will set a precedent on the grounds on which a party can be disqualified from running for elections.
The outcome of the case could have significant implications for the upcoming municipal elections. If the ANC's appeal is successful, it could potentially be allowed to contest in the six municipalities. However, if the IEC's argument prevails, the ANC's exclusion from the municipalities could be upheld. The court's decision is expected to provide clarity on the IEC's online nomination process and the requirements for valid submissions.
Key points
- The ANC is challenging the IEC's online election rule requiring a "submit as final" button to be clicked for candidate nominations to be valid.
- The IEC argues that the ANC's failure to click the "submit as final" button was a critical error and that the party had been aware of the requirement for 10 years.
- The top court's judgment will set a precedent on the grounds on which a party can be disqualified from running for elections.
