‘Remove, replace or retain’: IEC gives parties until 5 pm today to resolve multiple-list candidates - IOL

The IEC has given political parties and independent candidates until 5pm today to resolve cases involving candidates appearing on multiple lists ahead of the November 4 local government elections.

The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has given political parties and independent candidates until 5pm on Friday to resolve cases involving candidates who appear on more than one nomination list ahead of the November 4 local government elections.

The affected parties and candidates will have three options: remove the candidate, replace the candidate or retain the candidate on the list.

The IEC Manager: Electoral Registrations and Liaison, Kgosietsile Tshoke, said the commission would issue the relevant lists to parties and independent candidates affected by the multiple-list cases.

“Parties and independent candidates will have the option of either removing the affected candidate, replacing the affected candidate, or retaining that candidate.

''In the case of a replacement, the party would then have the opportunity of putting in another candidate in that position,” Tshoke said.

Where a candidate is replaced, parties may also have to reorder their lists.

Tshoke said this could be done by submitting a new candidate in the position being replaced or by placing the new candidate at the bottom of the list.

The IEC has set 5pm on Friday, September 11, as the cut-off for parties and independent candidates to resolve the affected nominations.

Parties that are unable to complete the process through the IEC’s online candidate nomination system can approach local IEC offices for assistance.

Tshoke said parties that did not use the online system but received their lists from the IEC by email would also have to visit their local office to get assistance with replacements, reordering or retaining candidates.

The process comes as the IEC works to finalise candidate lists following the closure of nominations on August 28.

The commission has already confirmed that 2,274 potential candidates linked to 45 political parties were captured on its online system, but were not formally submitted by the deadline.

The issue has since become the subject of an Electoral Court challenge by the ANC, with the DA seeking to intervene.

The IEC has also been dealing with cases where candidates appear on more than one party list or appear as an independent candidate while also appearing on a party list.

Once the multiple-list cases have been resolved, the IEC will move to the issuing and certification of candidate lists, Tshoke said.

The final candidate lists are scheduled to be published on September 16, giving the commission less than a week to complete the remaining compliance and candidate-list processes.