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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:'This was no election, it was a census': the IEC declaration of the April 1994 general election as free and fair in South Africa: a complex process?
Author:Twala, Chitja M.ISNI
Year:2006
Periodical:New contree: a journal of historical and human sciences for Southern Africa
Issue:51
Pages:87-100
Language:English
Geographic term:South Africa
Subjects:elections
2004
legitimacy
Abstract:The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) of South Africa was faced with the mammoth task of deciding on the legitimacy of the first non-racial democratic elections in April 1994. Once the IEC pronounced the elections 'free and fair', no other body in the country had the legal power to challenge or overturn it. Despite all the muddles, irregularities and intimidation experienced during the electioneering and election period, the IEC declared the elections free and fair. The author dissects the IEC's predicament and discusses the various criticisms of the IEC declaration. He notes that the phrase 'free and fair' is complex and cannot denote compliance with a fixed, universal standard of electoral competition as no such standard exists. Moreover, the complexity of the electoral process makes the notion of any simple formula unrealistic. Notes, ref., sum. in Afrikaans. [ASC Leiden abstract]
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