Electoral Commission to decide on 82 objections to nominated candidates

The Electoral Commission has confirmed is has received 82 objections in relation to candidates nominated by 21 political parties for the 2024 national and provincial elections.

The objection process is part of the process of candidate nomination, which closed at 5pm on March 8.

In the intervening period, the Commission has validated the details of the nominated candidates, advised nominating parties of instances where they nominated candidates who also appeared on the list of another party or who were nominated as independent candidates.

The process of candidate nomination was to a large extent driven by political parties through the Online Candidate Nomination System (OCNS).

This means party administrators were responsible for capturing party candidates, generating payment documents, uploading supporting documents and finally submitting to the Commission.

Throughout the nomination process, parties had total autonomy on their lists until they were finally submitted.

Only seven political parties submitted their nomination documents manually, with 79 doing so through the OCNS.

Objections to candidates follow a legally prescribed scheme in terms of the Electoral Act and the constitution.

Section 30(1) and 31E of the Electoral Act provide the grounds on which an objection may be raised. These are:

A candidate did not sign the prescribed acceptance of nomination;

There is no prescribed undertaking signed by a candidate that they are bound by the Code of Conduct; and

A candidate is not qualified to stand in the election.

Section 47 and 106 of the constitution set out the eligibility criteria and qualification for the national assembly and provincial legislature respectively.

They provide that every citizen who is qualified to vote for the national assembly and/or provincial legislature is eligible to stand for election except:

Anyone who has been declared to be of unsound mind by a court of the Republic; Unrehabilitated insolvents; Anyone convicted of an offence and sentenced to more than 12 months imprisonment without the option of a fine. This disqualification ends five years after the sentence is completed.

Of the 82 objections received, 74 were submitted on time. Eight objections were submitted after the cut-off time.

Despite many objections not meeting the prescribed format for submission, the Commission considered whether substantively they met the criteria in the constitution and the law.

Substantively, the statistics on objections received reveal:

No objections were received claiming candidates were unrehabilitated insolvents;

No objections were received with allegations that one or more candidates on the lists had been declared to be of unsound mind by a court of the Republic;

31 objections implicating eight candidates alleged they were not qualified owing to criminal records or convictions.

The Commission dismissed objections in relation to seven candidates and sustained one.

Any objector, party or candidate may appeal the decisions with the Electoral Court by April 2.