IEC heads to ConCourt over Tlokwe by-election

Tlokwe municipality in Potchefstroom, North West. Picture: Boxer Ngwenya/Independent Media

Tlokwe municipality in Potchefstroom, North West. Picture: Boxer Ngwenya/Independent Media

Published Feb 29, 2016

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Pretoria – The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) is to file an urgent Constitutional Court appeal against the Electoral Court order postponing the Tlokwe by-elections in the North West province.

On Monday, IEC chairperson Glen Mashinini said that at a national scale the Electoral Court order had created a number of uncertainties.

“The commission deliberated on the Electoral Court order of last week in conjunction with the Constitutional Court ruling of November 30, 2015. A number of uncertainties have arisen following the differences in interpretation of the Constitutional Court ruling,” Mashinini told reporters in Pretoria.

He said it was unclear now whether the lack of an address on the voters roll invalidated that particular voter.

“The commission believes that an appeal to the Constitutional Court will serve to provide the necessary clarity and certainly regarding its original ruling and the obligations of the Electoral Commission,” said Mashinini.

“At the same time, the commission yesterday (Sunday) resolved to embark on a variety of initiatives to update and enhance the entire voters roll with the addresses and/or location of voters where possible.”

He said the IEC believed it would be unacceptable to disenfranchise a voter on the basis of a lack of a formal address – in a country where there are millions of people living in informal settlements and in rural communities without fixed permanent street addresses.

Last week the Electoral Court ordered that the IEC postpone the by-elections of the Tlokwe municipality for a period of six weeks.

“The certification of the voters’ roll which is the subject matter of this case is set aside. The first respondent [IEC] is ordered to provide all candidates in the Tlokwe municipal by-elections with a copy or a segment of the voters’ roll to be used in their respective wards in the municipal by-elections, including the addresses of all voters, where these addresses are available,” the court had ordered.

African News Agency

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