IPC seeks access to ballots in urgent court challenge

Incoming official opposition party Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) has lodged an urgent court challenge seeking, among others, an order compelling the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) to provide the ballot papers of the just-ended presidential and National Assembly elections for scrutiny.IPC won 20 seats in the National Assembly, marking the highest tally achieved by an opposition party over the past 34 years.The party’s presidential candidate, Dr Panduleni Itula, gained 26% in the race for State House, behind Swapo’s Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah’s 58%. Swapo won the parliamentary vote by a narrow 53% – its lowest result since independence.Through its lawyer Dirk Conradie, IPC requested access to specific election materials on 6 December. ECN promised to respond to IPC on Monday, 9 December, once it had obtained advice from the government attorney. IPC said it later realised that the ECN has no power or authority to release the requested materials without a court order.&#039;Unconstitutional&#039; decisionsIPC has rejected the election outcome so far, saying it was the product of flawed processes and unconstitutional decisions taken by both the ECN and President Nangolo Mbumba, who extended voting for two days in parts of the country following a chaotic first day of voting. In court papers, IPC questions Mbumba&#039;s and the ECN’s decision to extend voting to 28 and 29 November, after voting was originally set to take place only on 27 November.The party argues that by law, a polling day must fall no less than 15 days and no more than 20 days after the proclamation notifying the polling date is published in the government gazette.IPC also argues that while voting was legally permitted to take place between 07:00 and 21:00 on 27 November, the ECN directed that polling stations must continue to allow new arrivals to vote beyond 21:00 on election day. Additionally, the party argues that while a voting day has to be declared a public holiday, that was not the case on 28 and 29 November – the days of extended voting. This, the party contends, was unconstitutional.“Declaring a public holiday for the purpose of election must logically be intended to facilitate people’s exercise of their constitutional right to vote,” IPC’s national general secretary Christine !Aochamus said in court papers filed on Monday.Search for answersIPC contends that the election was marred by irregularities and that its application to be granted access to voting materials will help determine the extent of those irregularities.“It also enables IPC to consider whether to launch proceedings concerning the validity of the election," !Aochamus said.“[IPC] does not know how many votes were tendered, cast and counted for each of the elections on polling day, inclusive of the so-called extended days. It also does not know what numbers were collected and collated at which polling stations across the country as of 28 November 2024," court papers read. The party&#039;s application seeks not only to demonstrate the alleged illegality of the actions taken by ECN and Mbumba but also the number of votes obtained and their validity in the context of the law.IPC says if the court does not order ECN to make the voting materials available, the party will be deprived of its constitutional right to have its application fairly determined based on objective facts, which can only be obtained through a court process.Granting access to the materials would also help the party determine what legal steps, if any, to take next.ECN chairperson Elsie Nghikembua, CEO Petrus Shaama and Mbumba are the first, second and third respondents, respectively, in the matter. Other respondents cited in the matter include the ECN as the electoral authority, among others.

IPC seeks access to ballots in urgent court challenge

Comments

Namibian Sun 2025-01-29

Please login to leave a comment

IPC seeks access to ballots in urgent court challenge

Comments

Namibian Sun 2025-01-29

Please login to leave a comment

Login