Niël Terblanché
On Friday, the Electoral Court of Namibia ruled in favour of the Independent Patriots of Change (IPC) and the Landless People’s Movement (LPM), granting them conditional access to inspect electoral materials from the National Assembly elections.
The ruling, handed down by a panel of High Court judges Nate Ndauendapo, Orben Sibeya, and Beatrix de Jager, permits the parties to review specific electoral information on 18 and 19 December.
The court order ensures that while the IPC and LPM can access election data, any sealed electoral material, as specified under the Electoral Act, remains strictly off-limits.
In their ruling, the panel of judges reiterated that no seals could be broken during the inspection process.
The applicants should understand that in the information requested, the first and second respondents, namely the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) and its Chief Electoral Officer, would not have to break any seal of electoral material.
The applicants’ request pertains to polling stations, votes cast, and spoiled ballots.
The applicants appeared primarily concerned with obtaining statistical data related to the elections.
The court’s ruling, delivered under urgent application protocols, stipulated that the IPC and LPM should receive access to the requested data starting on 27 November 2024.
The provided information includes comprehensive statistics: the total number of votes cast, votes rejected, spoiled ballots, voters who cast ballots outside their constituencies, and the total number of votes counted.
The panel of judges also ruled that additional data from 29 and 30 December should also be made available to the applicants.
