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There is considerable confusion among political actors as to what matters can be referred to the Electoral Tribunal.
The country’s electoral tribunal has received a large number of applications that do not fall into the category of “electoral matters”, sparking public debate over what types of applications the specialized tribunal can hear.
In the past two months, the Electoral Court has dismissed two separate applications filed by the Independent Patriotic Changemakers (IPC) and the Namibia Economic Freedom Fighters (NEFF) against the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN).
In the first application, the IPC asked the court to order the ECN to provide a legal opinion on the legality of double electoral candidacy – when a candidate in a presidential election is also a candidate in Namibia’s National Assembly elections.
In the case of NEFF, the party was deregistered by the election management body for allegedly failing to submit audited financial records and publish them in local newspapers, and the party subsequently took the election management body to the electoral tribunal.
Both the Indian Election Court (IPC) and NEFF cases were dismissed as the election court lacked jurisdiction to hear these cases.
NEFF has since filed an application with the Windhoek High Court in the hope of forcing the ECN to reverse its decision. National Assembly Speaker Peter Katjavivi is the second defendant in the case.
The court maintained that, under the law, all matters arising before election day must be decided by the Electoral Tribunal, and all decisions of the Tribunal should be heard by the Electoral Tribunal.
background
The Electoral Court is a specialized court established under the Electoral Commission Act to adjudicate electoral disputes and oversee the decisions of the Electoral Commission of Namibia.
The court hears appeals against decisions of the Election Commission on the application of electoral laws, registration of political parties and eligibility of candidates. It also hears electoral disputes regarding vote counting and violations of the electoral code of conduct.
The court operates on an ad hoc basis and is activated when it is notified of an election dispute.
Since this court is on equal footing with the High Court, its decisions can be appealed to the Supreme Court.
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