WALLIS AJ This ward was also, according to the evidence, affected by the registration of persons not entitled to register. But that did not prevent the independent candidate from winning with a substantial majority. [103] We are faced with the need to weigh disparate interests. The applicants rightly complain that the by-elections were not free and fair and that their constitutional right to participate in the by-elections was thereby infringed. One can add that their constitutional right of freedom of speech was also limited in that they were restricted in their ability to convey their political message to their chosen electorate. The IEC points to the interests of those voters who participated legitimately in the by-elections and made their choice, but face having that set aside. It is true that they will have the opportunity in that event to vote again in a by-election but that is not a perfect answer.83 Not only will the electorate have changed, by virtue of death, people moving elsewhere, new registrations, especially of younger voters, and possible expansion of residential areas in the wards, but there may also be different candidates. The issues in fresh by-elections are likely to be different from those that were relevant two years ago. The media attention they are likely to receive will be different. All in all they will be different elections.84 83 The reason is explained by Professor Huefner “Remedying Election Wrongs” (2007) 44 Harvard Journal on Legislation 265 at 295-96 in a passage cited in Opitz above n 75 at para 48: “[A] new election can never be run on a clean slate, but will always be colored by the perceived outcome of the election it superseded. New elections may also be an inconvenience for the voters, and almost certainly will mean that a different set of voters, with different information, will be deciding the election. Moreover, there can be no guarantee that the new election will itself be free from additional problems, including fraud. In the long term, rerunning elections might lead to disillusionment or apathy, even if in the short term they excite interest in the particular contest. Frequent new elections also would undercut democratic stability by calling into question the security and efficiency of the voting mechanics.” 84 In Cusimano v. Toronto (City) above n 75 at para 66, Dambrot J said that a by-election is an inexact substitute for the election that is set aside. The judgment proceeds at para 67-8: “A by-election is an entirely different election from the one it replaces. The candidates may be different. The issues may be different. The level of media attention may be different. The turnout may be different. And the electorate will be different: some voters will have died; some will have moved out of the ward and be entirely disenfranchised; some will have moved into the ward and may have already voted in another ward on October 25, 2010. I do not intend to belittle the value of a by-election as a remedy when there are irregularities in an election that violate the principles of the [Municipal Electoral Act 1966] or affect the 53