The Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) has dismissed the Independent Patriots for Change's (IPC) Electoral Court application as "vague and embarrassing."
This is the second respondent, together with the Swapo Party, who is asking the court to dismiss the application.
In its replying affidavit to the IPC's application to the Electoral Court, the ECN states that the applicant's claims—alleging that President Nangolo Mbumba created new polling stations and extended polling hours unlawfully—are based on misconceptions.
ECN chairperson Dr. Elsie Nghikembua argues that the IPC's application lacks the necessary detail and factual evidence required for such legal proceedings. She maintains that President Mbumba's proclamation only identified polling stations, where the extension of voting hours was applicable.
Both the IPC and the Landless People's Movement (LPM) have complained about the legality of extending the elections. The IPC is, therefore, seeking that the entire elections be nullified, while the LPM wants only the votes cast on 27 November to be valid.
The ECN explained that the extension was made in response to numerous complaints and requests from the public, which led the Commission to seek the President's approval for the extension.
On the allegation that many people were disenfranchised, Dr. Nghimbwa said over 70% of the registered voters cast their ballots, adding that the extension was to give the opportunity to those who were unable to vote on the 27th.
The ECN chair further accused the Secretary General of IPC, Christine !Auchamus, of attempting to mislead the court by claiming to have been present during the court-ordered inspection of election material on 18 and 19 December.
Regarding IPC's concerns about overheating tablets at polling stations, Nghikembua said the party's election observers should have recorded these in the occurrence books at polling stations.
The party, according to ECN, has also failed to specify how many tablets overheated, at which locations, or how this issue relates to the President's decision to extend the voting, which is at the heart of IPC's application.
IPC, in its application, describes last year's presidential and national assembly elections as a disgrace and constitutionally offensive.