IEC says MK Party failed to comply with rules governing challenge of election results
It is for this reason, and others, the IEC believes the Electoral Court should dismiss the MK Party’s application challenging the 2024 general election results.
FILE: MK Party supporters attending the 702 Election Townhall in Diepkloof on 21 May 2024. Picture: Karabo Tebele/702
JOHANNESBURG - The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) says the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party has failed to comply with rules that govern the challenging of election results.
It is for this reason, and others, that the IEC believes the Electoral Court should dismiss the MK Party’s application challenging the 2024 general election results.
The commission has labelled the MK Party’s application as incompetent and called on the Electoral Court to dismiss it with costs.
READ: DA: MK Party hasn't provided evidence to back claims of election rigging
In an affidavit deposed to by the IEC’s chief electoral officer, Sy Mamabolo, the commission said there are rules and regulations that detail how a party should go about challenging the election results.
Mamabolo said the MK Party did not comply with Section 55 of the Electoral Act, which provides for parties to lodge objections with the IEC.
He said the Electoral Court cannot hear an appeal or review until Section 55 is exhausted.
Mamabolo said the MK Party also failed to abide by the Electoral Court rule, which states appeals against election results must be made three days after the declaration, adding that the party did not provide any reason why they only filed their appeal two weeks after the declaration.
IEC DOESN’T KNOW WHERE MK PARTY GOT ALLEGEDLY STOLEN VOTES FIGURE FROM
The IEC said it does not know where the MK Party got the 9.3 million votes it alleges were stolen from it.
The IEC said the MK Party either misrepresented election data or doesn’t understand how to interpret it.
In its application to have the election results set aside, the MK Party said its unnamed cyber experts have found 9.3 million votes that were unaccounted for.
However, the IEC said the report cannot be submitted as evidence, as the MK Party does not state which person or organisation prepared it.
In addition, the commission said the figures in MK Party's report do not correspond with the IEC’s own data.
The commission said the numbers in the MK Party report are greatly inflated and it's unclear where they are sourced from.
The IEC concluded that the MK Party’s calculation and formula is incorrect and nonsensical.