The Electoral Commission (IEC) has welcomed the Electoral Court ruling dismissing cases lodged by five political parties against the commission.
The five political parties – Operation Dudula, Arise South Africa, Cape Independence Party, Defenders of the People, and Independent South Africa National Civic Organisation – lodged cases against their exclusion from contesting in the upcoming general elections.
The court applications related to non-compliance with the requirements for candidate nomination.
READ MORE: ACT rubbishes media reports on losing Electoral Court bid.
In a consolidated decision on the five applications, the court on Friday made an identical order, dismissing all of them. The court said reasons for the orders would follow shortly.
The IEC stated that the decision by the Electoral Court has cleared the path for the commission to begin with printing the ballot papers for the 2024 National and Provincial Elections (2024NPE).
“The Electoral Commission appreciates the hard work of the Electoral Court for bringing these matters to finality. These applications had an immense implication for the production of the ballot papers for the forthcoming elections,” the Commission said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the commission has issued a reminder that applications for special votes opened on 15 April 2024 and will close on 3 May 2024.
It reiterated that sound electoral administration demands that voters cast ballots at the voting station of registration.
“However, our framework allows for voters to vote at other voting stations where they are not registered if such voters notify the Commission. Notification for this purpose will close on 17 May 2024.”
