Africa-Press – Namibia. The Electoral Court will on Monday (10 November) give a judgement on an application by the Khomas Residents and Rate Payers Association to be allowed to take part in the Windhoek City Council election on 26 November.
Three judges of the court – deputy judge president Hannelie Prinsloo and judges Orben Sibeya and Beatrix de Jager – on Thursday heard oral arguments on an application in which the association is asking the court to order the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) to accept the nomination of its candidates for the Windhoek City Council election on a physical form, instead of through an internet portal.
The association’s secretary general, Shaun Gariseb (pictured), is claiming the association was unable to get access to the internet portal used by the ECN for the nomination of election candidates on 16 October, when candidates had to be nominated.
The association is asking the court to review and set aside an alleged decision of the ECN to not accept the nomination of its city council election candidates on a physical form.
It is also asking the court to declare the ECN’s alleged decision to compel the nomination of election candidates through an internet portal as unlawful.
According to the ECN, though, the association has not explicitly identified the decision it wants the court to review and set aside.
The ECN is also saying the association should have approached the Windhoek Electoral Tribunal, instead of the Electoral Court, with its case.
ECN chairperson Elsie Nghikembua says in a sworn statement filed at the court that a list of election candidates could be submitted to the ECN either through its internet portal or physically, by being submitted to the returning officer for the Windhoek local authority election.
The association did not submit its list of candidates to the returning officer, though, but tried to hand it in at the ECN headquarters after the cut-off time of 11h00 on 16 October, Nghikembua says.
The court reserved its judgement after hearing oral arguments from the association’s lawyer, Kadhila Amoomo, and Jabulani Ncube, representing the ECN, with Prinsloo saying the judgement would be delivered on Monday.
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