A missed click could keep 181 ANC candidates off the ballot
South Africa's top court is weighing whether failing to press a final 'submit' button is reason enough to exclude a party's candidates, three weeks before local elections.
Johannesburg — South Africa's Constitutional Court has reserved judgment on whether 181 African National Congress candidates should be kept out of next month's local government elections because the party did not click a final submission button on the electoral commission's online system, Daily Maverick reports.
The candidates' details and documents were uploaded before the deadline. What the party failed to do was press the button marked to submit the list as final.
Six municipalities are affected: Port St Johns, Ingquza Hill, Walter Sisulu and Sundays River Valley in the Eastern Cape, uMshwathi in KwaZulu-Natal, and Mangaung in the Free State.
The ANC's case
The party argues that the final step appears nowhere in electoral law or regulations and so cannot be used to disqualify anyone. Its advocate, Daniel Burger, told the court that the party had contacted the commission's help desk in the last half-hour before the deadline because it was having difficulty with the button.
The commission's case
The commission, supported by the Democratic Alliance, says the button is how a party confirms that it wants its candidates to stand. Parties could upload and go on editing until the deadline, it says, and were warned that lists not submitted as final would be removed.
Its advocate, Terry Motau, said the ANC had used the system for about a decade and had complied before.
For the DA, Michael Bishop warned of chaos if the ANC won. He told the court that 2,274 candidates had been uploaded but not submitted as final, and likened the step to confirming a restaurant booking online.
What the judges asked
Justice Rammaka Mathopo said the consequences were drastic and far-reaching and touched the rights of voters, and asked whether the requirement appears in any law and what legal standing the commission's manual has.
Justice Katherine Savage called the situation extraordinary and said the only apparent explanation was gross negligence by the party.
The deputy chief justice, Dunstan Mlambo, said the court recognised the urgency and would not delay its ruling. The Electoral Court dismissed the ANC's case in September.
This report is based on reporting by Daily Maverick.
