The Electoral Court has dismissed ActionSA’s case over the absence of a party acronym in the 2021 election ballot papers, the party said on Friday.
The decision against Herman Mashaba’s party, which he formed after leaving the DA and his position as Johannesburg mayor in 2018, comes a day after the court heard arguments from the party and the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC)
ActionSA approached the court on an urgent basis earlier in October, to seek relief that the IEC had omitted its name from ballot papers for wards the party is contesting in the municipal elections.
What appears on the ballot paper is the party’s logo and not the name of the party.
The IEC said this was ActionSA’s fault because it did not register an abbreviation when initially registered as a political party.
The party disputed this, saying the reason it had no abbreviation was because its name was the length prescribed by the IEC.
ActionSA wanted its party name to be added to ballot papers by using printed stamps, it argued in court.
The IEC argued that, even if it had erred, it had no time to reprint ballot papers days before the municipal elections.
ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba said on Friday he was disappointed by the ruling, but the party respected the rule of law.
Mashaba said:While our focus has been on the campaign, our attention now turns to the extraordinary measures we will implement to ensure that voters are able to locate ActionSA on the ballot papers.
ActionSA’s name will only appear on proportional representation ballot papers, but not on ward candidate ballot papers.
The IEC welcomed the decision of the court, saying it “paved the way for the orderly conduct of elections in the affected wards”.
“The commission reiterates that it did not exclude ActionSA from the ward ballots. Rather, ActionSA did not register an abbreviated name. Abbreviated names or acronyms are used instead of full names because the ward candidate full names are used,” it said in a statement on Friday afternoon.
“The approach to ballot design has been part of electoral management practice with the advent of the new system of local government in 2000.”