ELECTION NEWS - The coalition of opposition parties that threatened legal action against the electoral commission has made a turn-about and has accepted the final results of the 2019 national and provincial elections. 

This followed extensive discussions between the Statistician-General and the aggrieved political parties, which included, among others, the Congress of the People (COPE), the African Transformation Movement (ATM), African Content Movement (ACM), and the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC).

At the IEC results center in Cape Town Deputy General Secretary of COPE, Deidre Carter had joined the chorus of dismay. She insisted on an investigation into whether the dilemma with the indelible ink had a material effect on the outcome of the 2019 election. 

She told Group Editors that the irregularities she personally investigated and reported to the relevant presiding officers at a number of Cape Town voting stations were but the tip of the iceberg. Carter said she feared that the allegations of double voting had raised concerns about the credibility of the polls.

After the Statistician-General briefed the aggrieved parties during a lengthy party liaison committee meeting on Saturday, they accepted the declared election results for 2019. The parties said they were satisfied with the explanation by the Statistician-General that the margin of error of less than a percentage was not enough to seriously or materially affect the outcome of the 2019 election.

This followed on indications by the IEC that it would "vigorously oppose legal action aimed at interfering in the conduct of the elections and finalisation and announcement of the results."

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