Court to deliver judgment in ANC-IEC candidate submission case

The Electoral Court will hand down judgment in the African National Congress (ANC) – Electoral Commission (IEC) candidates submission battle on Wednesday.

Judgment was reserved on Tuesday night after 2.5 hours of legal wrangling which stems from the ANC’s alleged failure to submit its councillor candidates for the November 4 local polls.

The party cited a technical glitch on the IEC system, which prevented it from submitting over 180 of candidates during the August 28 deadline.

The Commission has since refuted the claim.

During the heads of arguments, the ANC’s lawyers told the court that their client’s candidates are unlawfully being excluded from participating in the forthcoming local polls.

The IEC on the other hand dismissed the party’s charge saying the party understood the rule of the game and knew very well that there was no glitch at the point of submission.

The Democratic Alliance’s (DA) lawyer Michael Bishop opposed the ANC’s application arguing rigid adherence to election deadlines are essential to free and fair elections, and rules and deadlines must apply equally to every political party wishing to contest an election.

VIDEO | Electoral court to rule on IEC-ANC battle: ANC vs IEC over candidate list submissions