DA, IEC want Electoral Court to dismiss MK Party’s application to declare elections invalid

The DA’s Helen Zille at the National Results Operations Centre (ROC), Gallagher Convention Centre. File Picture: Itumeleng English / Independent Newspaper

The DA’s Helen Zille at the National Results Operations Centre (ROC), Gallagher Convention Centre. File Picture: Itumeleng English / Independent Newspaper

Published Jun 27, 2024

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The Democratic Alliance (DA) has filed papers with the Electoral Court to oppose the uMkhonto weSizwe Party’s (MK Party’s) request to have the 2024 national election results declared invalid.

The DA expressed its opposition to the MK Party’s request to declare the recent elections void in an affidavit that was signed by Helen Zille, the DA’s federal council chairperson.

The party argued that the MK Party had not provided evidence to support their claims that the elections were rigged.

Zille claims that the MK Party's bid aims to send the wrong messages about the elections and compromise the credibility of the Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC).

However, MK Party still insists that it has evidence of more than nine million votes unaccounted for in the declaration of the election results.

The party believes that the elections were rigged.

The application was brought a day after the Constitutional Court dismissed their application to interdict the first sitting of the National Assembly held on Friday, pending a main application to set aside the election results.

However, according to Zille, the fact that there were three ballots in the most recent elections was not taken into consideration by the MK Party when identifying the gap between registered voters and votes cast.

The IEC stated that the MK Party has since failed to submit credible evidence to support their claims.

It submitted an affidavit signed by the IEC Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo to the Electoral Court.

The commission asked the court to dismiss the MK Party’s application.

kamogelo.moichela@iol.co.za

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