IEC faces high cost of reprinting 66% of 79 million ballots if ConCourt rules in ANC’s favour

Should the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) lose its Constitutional Court battle against the ANC, the price it will pay will be high.

The commission will have no choice but to destroy and reprint 66% of the 79 million ballot papers it has already printed to include the ANC where it is affected due to non-submission of candidates list, IEC deputy electoral officer for electoral matters Mashego Sheburi said.

IEC will reprint 66% of ballots in ConCourts rules in ANC favour

The court reserved judgment on the ANC’s appeal on Monday – but should it rule the party properly submitted its candidate list by the 28 August deadline and that a technical glitch prevented the list from being transmitted, the ANC could emerge victorious.

The party may then have to resubmit its list to the IEC, prompting the commission to print new ballot papers to include its candidates.

Other parties that missed the deadline for various reasons might also leverage the ANC’s situation as a precedent to benefit themselves.

The printing of ballots for the 4 November local government elections is underway, with more than 66% of the 79 million ballots already printed, IEC chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo said at a media briefing at the commission’s headquarters in Centurion yesterday.

A draw conducted on 23 September determined the order of parties and contestants on the ballot paper, while candidate certifications took place on 25 September.

Mamabolo said ballot production is expected to be finalised by Sunday.

Court delivering verdict this week

The Constitutional Court is expected to deliver its verdict this week to ensure that ballot printing can proceed, regardless of the ANC’s inclusion, according to political observers.

Its judgment is crucial for the missing ANC candidates to be included on the ballot paper.

However, there is no guarantee that the party will win.

The court may uphold the Electoral Court’s ruling, which rejected the ANC’s initial application to consider its lists as submitted due to the IEC’s alleged fault.

The IEC has denied any wrongdoing, saying no glitches were reported on the 28 August deadline and that the ANC failed to submit its list in time.

The electoral court ruled in the IEC’s favour before the ANC lodged an appeal.

Electoral court ruled in IEC’s favour

If the Constitutional Court upholds the Electoral Court’s ruling, the ANC could be excluded from contesting in the affected areas, preventing its candidates from participating.

Some political parties have ramped up their election campaigns in these areas, particularly in the Eastern Cape, where most excluded candidates were from.

The parties are taking advantage of the ANC’s absence to improve their chances of success.

**Some poll stats: **

• A record 2.6 million special vote applications have been approved, reflecting a 131% increase from the 1.1 million approved in the 2021 polls, Mamabolo said.
• A total of 676 526 home-voting applications have been approved, up from 507 407 in 2021. Most of these special votes come from KwaZulu-Natal, where 143 714 applications were approved for those unable to travel to voting stations due to physical infirmity or disability.
• The commission has approved 1.9 million special votes for those voting at the voting stations, representing a 227.9% increase from the same category in 2021, which had 1.3 million approved applications. Most of the approved station-based special votes are in Gauteng, with a total of 391 589.
• The majority of applications took place online, with total 2.4 million applications submitted on digital platforms, while 171 214 manual applications have been recorded at IEC offices.

Mamabolo said the capturing process is expected to be finalised by the target date of Friday. Special votes will take place on 2-3 November, with the main voting day set for 4 November.