ECN defends election extension amid court challenges over irregularities

The Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) says no new voters were allowed to vote on 28 November when the election period was extended.

Both the presidential and National Assembly elections were extended due to technical glitches and ballot shortages.

The ECN raises this argument in an answering affidavit in the case in which political parties are challenging the credibility of the election and calling for a rerun. ECN chairperson Elsie Nghikembua says voters who were not in queues at polling stations by 21h00 on 27 November, when polling stations were supposed to close, were not allowed to vote on 27 or 28 November, and voters who were still in the queue at 21h00 on 27 November were not turned away.

“Therefore, there was no voting on 28 November 2024, except for those persons who voted pursuant to the provisions of section 93(3) of the Electoral Act,” she says.

Nghikembua says ballot paper shortages were experienced at 36 polling stations, because the capacity of ballot boxes were exceeded or mobile teams could not reach the specific polling stations in time.

Therefore, voting on 29 and 30 November 2024 was allowed.

OPPOSITION SUPPORT

Meanwhile, political parties are rallying behind the court cases challenging the 2024 presidential and National Assembly election results, citing widespread irregularities.

The parties are demanding accountability from the ECN, with some calling for a re-election. Joseph Kauandenge, the secretary general of the National Unity Democratic Organisation (Nudo), has confirmed his party’s support for the court challenges.

“We support the current litigation before the courts with regards to the 2024 election results and yes, should the courts find that the process was flawed, we will support re-election forthwith,” he said yesterday.

“Equally, we want the courts to take the ECN to task to highlight their shortcomings with regard to last year’s election fiasco,” Kauandenge said.

The Republican Party (RP) yesterday shared similar sentiments, with RP spokesperson Turimove Katjipo saying the election process undermined justice.

“As a matter of fact, our president, [Henk] Mudge, was the instrument of the opposition parties to unite and tackle the flawed election process,” she said.

Katjipo said the RP was one of the parties that inspected election material in December, after a court order was issued at the request of the election challenge applicants, the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) and the Landless People’s Movement (LPM).

“Furthermore, the party stands for the nullification of the election. The process has undermined democracy and the Namibian Constitution,” she said.

TARGETED SOLUTIONS

While supporting the court challenges, Swanu of Namibia leader Evilastus Kaaronda urges caution in addressing the issue.

He says specific irregularities, such as voters being turned away at certain polling stations, should be addressed directly and those affected must be allowed to cast their votes.

“There must be a healthy balance maintained between the rights of those who voted and those who were turned back and therefore never got to cast their vote.

“If there were other identifiable irregularities, then such irregularities must be pointed out as to how they have affected the elections and whether such effects would alter the aggregate results as announced,” Kaaronda says.

He says calling for the nullification of the entire election is too ambitious.

“To call for a wholesale cancellation of the elections at this time is simply irresponsible and overly ambitious. The casting of the net is wide if the idea is to cancel all elections,” he says.

Kaaronda says there is a need for the parliament to amend the Electoral Act to strengthen the ECN’s processes and improve its efficiency.

“It is evident that the Electoral Act urgently needs to be reviewed and amended to give political parties more powers in the procurement processes, as well as in setting the terms for observers, both local and international,” he says.

Festus Thomas, the president of the Body of Christ Party, yesterday expressed concern about the integrity of the election, but stressed the need to preserve peace and stability.

“We saw huge irregularities by the professional and experienced people who run the democratic process of our country. We are very disappointed that things went that way. What we are calling for is for peace and justice to prevail in our country,” he said.

Thomas cautioned against rushing into a new election without careful planning, citing the financial and logistical challenges of potentially holding three elections in a short amount of time.

“If we say we must enter the new process of election, we really need to do a feasibility study very well to make sure the country can afford three elections: The election we have done and so misled, the one we are expecting to enter and then the regional and local authority elections. How are we going to manage?” he asked.

Thomas warned against actions that could destabilise the country.

“We must take precautions to see that our future is still maintained properly. We don’t want to see another Mozambique [situation] here in Namibia. We must avoid anything that will put Namibians at risk,” he said.

National Democratic Party (NDP) leader Martin Lukato also expressed his party’s support for the cases despite financial limitations preventing direct involvement by the NDP.

“We are supporting our people who are in court fighting the results. The reason we are not in court with them is because we don’t have capital.

“If you don’t have capital, you can’t really go to court. The ones who are in court are because they have the capital and we support them,” Lukato said.

He said his party will accept any court case outcome.

“We have to now wait for the outcome of the court. We as the NDP fully support any outcome. If the court says we must have an election again, we support that and if they say everything was fine, then we also have nothing else to say,” he said.

The IPC is asking the Supreme Court to set aside the result of the presidential election, which was won by Swapo candidate Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah with 58% of votes counted and to order a new presidential election.

The IPC is also asking the Electoral Court to set aside the results of the National Assembly election, in which Swapo won 51 of the 96 elected seats in the assembly, while the IPC won 20 seats.

The LPM is also alleging that the election process was flawed and is asking the Electoral Court to declare the National Assembly election results invalid or only rely on the results of 27 November’s voting, while setting aside the results of the extended voting days.

‘DISMISS IT’

In its answering affidavit, the ECN says the Electoral Court case lacks evidence and fails to meet the legal requirements for overturning an election under Section 115 of the Electoral Act.

Nghikembua says if the court finds any merit in the case, it should only invalidate votes cast during the extended voting period on 29 and 30 November last year and preserve the results of voting done on 27 November.

According to Nghikembua, the IPC’s challenge of the National Assembly election result “is vexatious and frivolous, and is an abuse of court process, warranting a cost order against the applicant”, and the IPC “made serious and baseless allegations against the commission, which are entirely unsupported by any evidence”.

Nghikembua also says if the court decides to preserve the results of voting done on 27 November, Swapo would gain one extra seat at the expense of the IPC.