Electoral Court concedes that IEC erred with BLF registration
29 April 2019
The Electoral Court in Johannesburg found for the FF Plus regarding the Electoral Commission's failure to comply with the legal requirements with the registration of the BLF and has ruled that the requirements must be complied with as soon as is practicable.
The court found that the period for appeal against the decision of the chief electoral officer to register the BLF as a political party has not yet commenced seeing as the decision was never published in the Government Gazette, which is required by law.
The court also ruled that the Commission acted unlawfully by dismissing the FF Plus's appeal against the BLF's registration.
The court did not rule on the validity of the BLF's registration. Seen in the light of the ruling, it is clear that the Commission did not follow the correct procedure and should the Commission still allow the BLF to participate in the elections, questions regarding the lawfulness of such participation would be justified.