The Electoral Court of South Africa has dismissed an application for leave to appeal by political party African Restoration Alliance (ARA) after it raised objections with outcomes of elections held at some voting stations during the 2024 elections.
The judgement was handed down electronically by the Electoral Court on Monday.
The ARA brought an application for leave to appeal a ruling of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) handed on June. In June, the IEC dismissed an application by ARA where it raised objections following the conclusion of the May 29 national and provincial elections.
ARA raised and submitted its objections with the IEC on May 31, two days after the national elections.
Concerns about the outcome of elections
In the party’s objections, it raised concerns on the outcomes of elections held at certain voting stations during the 2024 elections. ARA’s objections concern incidents that occurred in different wards in the Western Cape and Free State provinces.
According to evidence presented in court, ARA party leader Jerome Swartz said there were irregularities that happened in 13 wards in the Western Cape and one ward in the Free State during the 2024 elections. Swartz said the alleged irregularities compromised the integrity of the electoral processes.
Dozing off on the job
Some of the alleged irregularities include, but are not limited to, presiding officers refusing to allow party agents to count votes with them. He also alleged that IEC officers fell asleep while counting and there was tampering of ballot boxes. Swartz said voters were chased away from a voting station at 9pm closing time, whereas they have been in the queue for almost six hours. He further alleged that voters with no proper identification were voting and ballot boxes were taken to the ANC’s vehicle while voters were queuing outside the voting station.
ARA asked the Electoral Court to grant it the following reliefs: the voting stations must be instructed to do a recount of the votes; the votes, where the applicant was entitled to be included in the tally but were not, should be added in favour of the applicant; certain votes that were cast in certain voting stations must be reviewed; and the votes that might have been unlawfully and improperly allocated to other parties should be deducted from the tallies of those parties.
Application lacks prospect of success
In its judgement, the Electoral Court said it is not satisfied that a reasonable explanation for the delay has been given by the applicant (ARA) in this case and that the appeal would have a prospect of success.
“The applicant dragged its feet. In this case, as in any election, the outcome of the elections must be announced within seven days after an election as envisaged in… the Electoral Act. I reject the applicant’s contention that the announcement of the election results was ‘rushed’ and that the consideration of the time limits ‘cannot be an overriding factor.’ The announcement of the election results is prescribed by law, and the commission had to act in compliance with the provisions of the law. Additionally, the applicant has failed to cite the parties who are likely to be affected by the relief sought,” said Prof Nomtandazo Ntlama-Makhanya in the judgement.
ARA secured just over 11000 national ballot votes in the 2024 elections, failing to secure a seat in parliament’s National Assembly or any of the nine provincial legislatures.
