An election petition can seek different remedies. One type — the most ambitious — claims not just that the returned candidate should be unseated, but that the petitioner themselves should have been declared elected. Section 153 of the Elections Act 2017 creates a specific counter-risk for petitioners who seek this outcome.
When a petitioner seeks to be declared elected in place of the returned candidate, the returned candidate is entitled to file a counter-claim. The petition becomes a two-way legal contest.
 What does the law say?
Section 153 of the Elections Act 2017 allows any respondent to a petition — including the returned candidate — to file a recrimination against the petitioner when the petition’s ground is that the petitioner should have been declared elected. The recrimination may claim that the petitioner themselves was not validly elected, did not receive the most valid votes, or committed corrupt or illegal practice during the election.
Such recrimination converts a petition into a dual contest. The tribunal must decide not only whether the returned candidate should be unseated, but also whether the petitioner is as legally exposed as they allege the returned candidate to be.
 Why does this matter?
Section 153 is a legal risk that petitioners seeking to claim a seat must factor in before filing. If the petitioner’s own campaign involved any conduct that could constitute corrupt or illegal practice — and the returned candidate has evidence of it — the petition creates the platform for that evidence to be formally presented.
This provision is not designed to discourage legitimate petitions. It is designed to ensure that petitioners who claim a clean election seek it on clean grounds. Any petitioner whose own campaign involved practices that might attract scrutiny should be aware that filing a seat-claiming petition exposes their conduct to counter-examination by the tribunal.
Source: Elections Act 2017, Section 153.
This post is part of FAFEN’s series on electoral literacy. Read more of this series here.
