WALLIS AJ Introduction [1] This case is a by-product of eight by-elections held in various wards in the Tlokwe Local Municipality between August and December 2013. The applicants were unsuccessful candidates in the wards in which each of them had stood for election. They challenged the outcome of the by-elections in the Electoral Court, but their challenge failed and they now apply for leave to appeal to this Court. The order they seek is that the results in the by-elections be set aside and that the respondent, the Electoral Commission (IEC),1 be ordered to hold fresh by-elections in the affected wards. Their application is opposed by the IEC. [2] This local electoral dispute might be thought to be of little moment, save to the citizenry of Tlokwe, but the applicants’ challenge to the outcome of the by-elections poses questions that go to the heart of our constitutional commitment to a democratic and open society in which government is based on the will of the people. 2 The founding values of the Constitution include universal adult suffrage, a national common voters’ roll and a multi-party system of democratic government to ensure accountability, responsiveness and openness.3 The political rights of all citizens are enshrined in the Bill of Rights.4 The Constitution requires that one of the State institutions supporting constitutional democracy must be an Electoral Commission with responsibility for the management of elections at all three levels of government.5 The Electoral Commission’s core responsibility is to ensure that those elections are free and fair.6 1 The respondent is widely known as the “Independent Electoral Commission” (IEC), but correctly described under the relevant statutes as the Electoral Commission. 2 The preamble to the Constitution states that one of its purposes is to “[l]ay the foundations for a democratic and open society in which government is based on the will of the people”. 3 Section 1(d) of the Constitution. 4 Section 19 of the Bill of Rights. 5 Section 190(1)(a) of the Constitution. 6 Section 190(1)(b) of the Constitution. 4