ACT, AASD and Labour Party lose bid to have elections postponed

JOHANNESBURG - Three unregistered political parties have lost their bid to have this month’s elections postponed.

The African Congress for Transformation, the Labour Party and the Afrikan Alliance of Social Democrats wanted the Constitutional Court to compel the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) to amend its deadline for submissions for newly registered parties.

READ: IEC says it's not to blame for failure by some parties to meet elections deadline

The parties claimed the IEC’s online portal for submission malfunctioned and prohibited compliance with the Electoral Act.

The Labour Party of South Africa called for the 29 May polls to be postponed.

On Friday, the court ruled that the parties would not be granted more time to be added to the ballot.
 
The IEC argued that postponing the elections would cost the country almost R600 million.