Court orders 181 ANC candidates onto South African ballot

South Africa’s Constitutional Court ordered the Electoral Commission to include 181 African National Congress candidates in local elections after allowing the party’s appeal over missed online submissions. The decision affects six municipalities in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Free State, reversing an Electoral Court ruling that had kept the candidates off the ballot. The ANC had completed nomination forms, uploaded required documents and paid deposits, but failed to complete the final “Submit as Final” step in the Electoral Commission of South Africa’s online system in the six municipalities. The party argued that the button was a feature of the system, not a requirement in electoral law. The commission maintained that the step confirmed candidate lists were final. The Constitutional Court directed the commission to take the necessary steps to include the affected candidates and lists. The group comprises 130 proportional-representation candidates and 51 ward candidates. The court’s reasons for its majority decision had not yet been issued, leaving its precise reasoning and possible implications for similar cases unclear.