Parties must obey rules or face ‘electoral castration’
INFRINGEMENT of the Electoral Commission’s code of conduct could lead to political parties facing expulsion from the ballot paper or being handed a fine of up to R200 000, commissioner Judge Dhaya Pillay said yesterday.
Seventeen out of 31 parties that will contest the KwaZulu-Natal provincial elections yesterday signed the Electoral Code of Conduct and pledged to ensure that the May 8 elections be a free and fair process, and to also create an environment of political tolerance in the build-up to the elections.
Pillay told the gathered parties that breaches of the code could see them getting anything from a slap on the wrist in the form of a warning to a much heavier punishment.
“You could suffer a kind of electoral castration in that you won’t have access to the media and you won’t be able to hold public meetings.
“You also won’t be able to enter a voting district, you won’t be able to publish campaign literature, you won’t be able to enter the elections and you won’t be able to receive funds if you break the code,” Pillay said.
She said certain political activities – such as holding political meetings, marches, demonstrations or other political activities other than casting a vote in the area within the boundary of the voting station – were an offence under Section 108 of the Electoral Act.
“If you do not obey that rule, you will be guilty of an offence,” Pillay said.
She also encouraged those who had information of any breaches of the code to come forward with reliable information that could be substantiated by evidence, affidavits, pictures and even footage.
“One of the difficulties is that complaints do come in, but they aren’t substantiated by evidence,” said Pillay.
“Complaints must be accompanied by a date of an incident, place that it happened, names of the people involved and whatever else that the commission will need.”
Electoral Court Judge-President Boissie Mbha urged those with electoral disputes and complaints to use the IEC as their starting point.
“Any complaint first has to be adjudicated by the IEC, you might have a problem with the decision of the IEC relating to procedure, relating to how they’ve dealt with a particular matter – and in that case, you can then approach the electoral court to review that decision,” said Mbha.
The province has 5.5 million registered voters across 44 municipalities, 870 wards and will have 4 885 voting stations and more than 80 000 election officials.