BETA v Mudehwe & anor 2001 (1) ZLR 87 (S)

Mr L T Biti for the first respondent

An unsuccessful candidate in an election cannot rely on allegations that voters have been wrongly omitted from the voters roll as a ground for having the election set aside. If a voter considers he has been unjustly left of the voters roll, it is he who has a right of action not the candidate. The candidate cannot wait until the roll is closed, and then until he has lost the election before going to court to complain about the election.

The appellant had unsuccessfully contested election for the post of may of mutated he sought to have the election set aside on the ground that persons who were ledgers in the municipal area had been wrongly refused registration as voters. on appeal from a decisions of the high court rejecting his application:

held that the applicants papers failed to show that there had been a blanket refusal to enroll ledgers as voters, or even that particular persons had been wrongly denied registration. held further that the application was misconceived: the proper complainants were the individual voters and the proper time for them to complain was before the voters roll was closed.