IEC’s race against time begins

The Independent Electoral Commission says it could not allow parties to exceed Thursday’s deadline for registration as it would have held back its administration and might have prejudiced the electoral timetable. Ninety-eight political parties will contest the local government election on the 1st of March. Part of the IEC’s strict timetable includes verifying candidate lists, issuing certificates and printing ballot papers. Just over 45-thousand candidates have been registered. KwaZulu-Natal is the province with the most candidates after more than eight-thousand-800 registered, followed by six-and-a-half-thousand in Gauteng. In the Western Cape only one-thousand-748 candidates registered.