The Electoral Court will on Monday deliver the judgement on an application by the |Khomas Residents and Ratepayers Association to be allowed to take part in the Windhoek City Council election on 26 November.
The Court today heard arguments brought by independent candidate and activist Shaun Gariseb, who is challenging the rejection of some members of the Association by the Electoral Commission of Namibia ahead of the Regional Councils and Local Authorities elections.
Gariseb’s attempt to have members of the Association nominated failed after the electronic system of the ECN experienced technical glitches, which, he said, disadvantaged him in filing the nominations.
Gariseb, the association’s secretary general, says the association couldn’t access the ECN’s portal for nominating election candidates.
He is asking the court to review and set aside a decision of the ECN to not accept the nomination of its candidates for city council elections on a physical form.
State advocate Jabulani Ncube, who represented the electoral body, argued that the court lacks jurisdiction to hear the merits of Gariseb’s application.
He said Gariseb’s application does not identify a specific ECN decision and noted that no resolution, which is required under the Electoral Act, was attached to the application.
Ncube added that the matter falls under the Electoral Tribunal, which handles nomination disputes.
He also said all political parties contesting the elections should have been joined, as the outcome could affect them.
But lawyer Kadhila Amoomo, representing Gariseb, argued that the Electoral Court has jurisdiction.
He referred to a previous case in which the court granted an order after ECN wrongly declared a winner at the Nkurenkuru by-election due to a similar issue with rejected nominee lists.
Amoomo said prima facie evidence of authorisation is sufficient, and he cited a letter from ECN confirming that Gariseb was an authorised representative.
He also said procedural formalities should not be strictly applied in electoral matters.
Amoomo highlighted difficulties faced by Gariseb’s association in using ECN’s online system, where their account was blocked and generated an error message attached to the affidavit; he said the ECN could have requested Gariseb to hand in physical documents.
The court reserved its judgement after hearing oral arguments, with Deputy Judge President Hannelie Prinsloo saying the judgement would be delivered on Monday.
