WALLIS AJ
[73]
The next complaint relates to the production of the segment of the voters’ roll
used in each ward. It is common cause that this did not include the voters’ addresses.
This raises two issues. Was it permissible for the IEC to supply voters’ rolls without
addresses and what impact would this have on the ability of candidates, such as the
applicants, to contest the by-elections?
[74]
The part of section 16 of the Electoral Act dealing with the IEC’s obligation to
make the relevant portion of the voters’ roll available during a by-election reads:
“(1)
A copy of the voters’ roll as it exists at any time must be available for
inspection during office hours at the Commission’s head office, and the
provincial and municipal segments of the voters’ roll must be available for
inspection at the times and venues mentioned in a notice published by the
chief electoral officer in the Government Gazette.
(2)
The chief electoral officer must provide a certified copy of, or extract from, a
segment of the voters’ roll as it exists at that time, to any person who has paid
the prescribed fee.
(3)
Notwithstanding subsection (2), the chief electoral officer must, on payment
of the prescribed fee, provide copies of the voters’ roll, or a segment thereof,
which includes the addresses of voters, where such addresses are available, to
all registered political parties contesting the elections.”
[75]
The IEC’s approach was that the voters’ roll does not need to include the
addresses of voters.
It relied for this on the provisions of regulation 10 of the
regulations governing the registration of voters , which says that:
“The particulars to be entered in the voters’ roll when registering a person as a voter,
are the consecutive number, the identity number and the name of the voter.”
The justification for omitting the address of the voter was said to be to prevent the
abuse of the voters’ roll by persons wishing to use it for purposes other than legitimate
electoral purposes, for example, marketers. Such use is a criminal offence under
section 16(4) of the Electoral Act.
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