Constitutional Court rules in Favour of ANC over late candidate submissions
South Africa’s Constitutional Court ruled in favour of the African National Congress in a dispute over candidates excluded from next month’s municipal elections, a judgment that may force the electoral commission to reprint ballot papers weeks before voting begins.
The ruling raises questions about whether the Independent Electoral Commission can meet its deadlines before the 4 November vote.
The commission said Wednesday that 66% of ballot papers had already been printed, including a significant proportion of those affected by the ANC’s challenge.
The ANC approached the Constitutional Court to appeal an Electoral Court ruling that upheld the IEC’s decision to exclude more than 180 of its candidates, including some in the Eastern Cape province, after they failed to meet a submission deadline.
The party argued that a technical glitch prevented it from registering the candidates on time.
Masego Sheburi, an IEC official, warned Wednesday that a ruling in the ANC’s favour would leave the commission with ballot papers that could no longer be used, requiring them to be reprinted at additional cost.
“If we were to include the ANC candidates in those municipalities, those printed ballots are sunken costs that can never be recovered, we have printed them,” Sheburi told reporters in Centurion near the capital, Pretoria. “They would have to be reprinted to give effect to the court decision if it finds in favor of the ANC.”
The commission has a 21-day window to print ballots, he said.
The implications of the judgment may extend beyond the ANC because other political parties have also been affected by candidate-submission disputes.
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