IEC: 1.3-million voters could be struck off roll

Commission asks for extension to secure addresses Credibility of polls could be at risk

The Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) could be forced to remove about 1.3-million people from the voters roll if the Constitutional Court fails to grant it an extension to secure addresses for these voters.

In court papers filed last week, the IEC asked for an extension of a further 17 months — from June 30 to November 29 2019 — to comply with an earlier Constitutional Court order on fixing the voters roll. If the IEC is unable to complete the roll, it may have to invoke sections 11 and 12 of the Electoral Act as well as regulations, which would result in voters being removed from the roll.

The issue of addresses as well as the selection and appointment of new commissioners for the IEC meant that the idea of an early election — punted in political circles as a possibility for the ANC to capitalise on positive developments under its new president Cyril Ramaphosa — was completely off the table, insiders said, although the IEC had not been approached with such a request.

In 2016, the Constitutional Court held that the failure to compile a voters roll with available addresses was inconsistent with the Constitution and invalid, but the declaration of invalidity was suspended until June 30 2018. The IEC has until the end of June to ensure it records outstanding addresses on the voters roll.

In its papers, the IEC says that should people be removed from the roll “there is a very real chance that parties dissatisfied with the 2019 electoral results will seek to challenge the outcome”.

“Even if such challenges were ultimately to fail, this could ultimately imperil the credibility of the election results.”

According to the IEC’s application for an extension submitted to the Constitutional Court, the majority of the voters whose addresses are outstanding are in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the

Eastern Cape. There are 26.2million voters on the roll, according to the IEC, and if the 1.3-million are struck off the roll, this could have a considerable effect on the outcome of the polls in a potentially close race.

In Gauteng, for instance, the ANC obtained 53% of the vote in the 2014 election and 2019 is once again expected to be a tight contest between political parties, particularly after the ANC’s loss of two of its largest metros to the DA in 2016.

According to sources at the IEC, the commission is still puzzled about how the 1.3-million were registered without providing their full information, as required by law.

“We have a voters roll that is not compliant and if we remove these people according to section 12 of the electoral law, we must notify them first.

“We must notify them by putting notices in the newspapers at local and national level. Only then can they be removed.”

This remains the “worst-case scenario” for the IEC, should the Constitutional Court decline its request for an extension.

Of the political parties, it is understood that only the Inkatha Freedom Party has objected to the IEC’s request. Apart from difficulties concerning addresses, the IEC is also in the process of appointing three new commissioners, who will need to start preparing for the next election by December at the latest.

IEC spokeswoman Kate Bapela said the commission did not want to speculate, but was allowing the court to apply its mind. She said the IEC had already done a lot to comply with the court’s earlier deadline.