The High Court on Thursday ruled in favour of nine opposition parties who had sought access to election materials so that they could conduct an independent audit of November's Presidential and National Assembly elections results.
In his judgment delivered to a packed court on December 24, High Court Judge Collins Parker stated that the applicants, led by the Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP), had complied with the letter of the law when they'd brought their application for access to the Electoral Commission of Namibia's (ECN) materials related to November 27 and 28's elections.
Judge Parker ruled that the ECN has until 16h00 on Monday, December 28, to comply with the judgment.
The nine opposition political parties had lodged the application in the wake of the elections results announcement on December 4, citing various "irregularities" in the voting and counting processes during and after last month's elections.
According to the parties, the successful application for access to election materials was the first phase in a challenge of the elections results, with the second phase, after an audit has been conducted, being the launching of an election application to have the elections results set aside or a recount done if substantial "irregularities" are detected.
Election Watch is a project of the Institute for Public Policy Research in Windhoek, Namibia.