DA responds to ConCourt judgment on IEC bending rules for the ANC
20 September 2021
The DA accepts the decision of the Constitutional Court today, and its ruling that the IEC may re-set the candidate registration deadline for the 2021 election.
This follows the ANC’s failure to meet the first deadline, on 23 August, to submit its party lists and ward candidates in 20 municipalities and 598 wards countrywide.
The DA had challenged the IEC’s attempt to re-open the candidate registration, arguing that this move was a blatant attempt to bend the rules in favour of the ANC.
Drawing on the Constitutional Court’s initial order of 3 September, in which it stipulated that election 2021 had to be held by the constitutionally determined date, the DA argued that while a voter registration weekend was essential to a free and fair election, re-opening the candidate registration would render the IEC open to allegations of bias to favour the ANC.