IEC rules Ward 110 by-election results were free and fair
The announcement comes after allegations of 'voter registration irregularities' in the ward which includes Sunningdale and Mount Royal.
THE Electoral Commission (IEC) has declared the results of the recent by-election in Ward 110 as free and fair, in effect dismissing allegations of voter fraud.
This comes after the commission received a formal objection from the ANC over what it called ‘voter registration irregularities’.
The objection further alleged there were cases of people who were on the voters’ roll who didn’t reside in the ward.
Related article: Ward 110 by-election: IEC investigates alleged voter registration irregularity
The by-election in Ward 110 was won by the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK) candidate Mandla Biyela by just 22 votes over the DA opponent, Rowena Bosman.
The win by the MK Party was their first ever metro by-election victory in eThekwini.
On Wednesday (April 23) at a media briefing the IEC’s deputy chief electoral officer, Masego Sheburi, said that as far as the commission was concerned, there were no ‘outstanding issues’.
“With regards to the by-election in Ward 110, the complaints that were raised by the political parties were that certain persons, who were not ordinarily residents in that ward, were allowed to register against addresses in the ward in order, as the complaint goes, to impact the outcome of the election. Ahead of each by-election, the commission makes available a copy of the voters’ roll to all contestants.
Also read: MK Party wins Ward 110 by-elections
“This is in order to enable them to identify persons who are not supposed to be registered on the roll, to raise objections and for the commission to make decisions on those objections. There was no objections ahead of the by-elections in Ward 110. In eThekwini, and concerned by what appeared to have been an inordinate number of persons registered against an informal settlement, the commission redacted the addresses of those people from the roll, so that when those voters presented on by-election day to vote, they ought to have first provided their address and on confirmation that their address was located in their ward, they would be permitted to vote. That is permissible in terms of Section 47 of the Municipal Electoral Act. The commission has declared the results of the by-election as free and fair,” he said.
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