WALLIS AJ “(1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives. ... (3) The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.”62 [83] While not using the expression “free and fair elections” – an expression that entered the general political lexicon in 1978 when it featured in the United Nations Security Council Resolution 435 calling for “the early independence of Namibia through free and fair elections under the supervision and control of the United Nations”63 – the Universal Declaration of Human Rights encapsulates the fundamental principles on which democratic societies rest. In our Constitution the principle finds expression in the commitment of our society to universal adult suffrage, a national common voters’ roll, regular elections and a multi-party system of government.64 But that commitment, whilst necessary to achieve a democratic society, is not on its own sufficient for that purpose. For that reason our Constitution establishes the IEC as a Chapter 9 institution supporting constitutional democracy, and charges it with ensuring that all elections are free and fair.65 [84] By what standard is a court to determine whether an election was free and fair? In this case the applicants complain that the registration of voters who were not 62 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 10 December 1948. See also article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 16 December 1966, which reads: “Every citizen shall have the right and the opportunity, without any of the distinctions mentioned in article 2 and without unreasonable restrictions: (a) To take part in the conduct of public affairs, directly or through freely chosen representatives; (b) To vote and to be elected at genuine periodic elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret ballot, guaranteeing the free expression of the will of the electors”. 63 Bjornlund above n 26 at 97. 64 Section 1(d) of the Constitution. 65 Section 190(1)(b) of the Constitution. 43