ELECTORAL ACT ____________________________________________________________________________________ 156 When election not void When upon the trial of an election petition the Electoral Court finds that a candidate at the election the subject of the petition has been guilty by his or her agent of an electoral malpractice with reference to that election, and the candidate has proved to the satisfaction of the Electoral Court that— (a) no electoral malpractice was committed at that election by the candidate himself or herself or by his or her chief election agent and that the offences mentioned in the said finding were committed without the sanction or connivance of the candidate or his or her chief election agent; and [Paragraph as amended by s. 87 of Act No. 17 of 2007] (b) the candidate and his or her chief election agent took all reasonable precautions for preventing the commission of electoral malpractices, corrupt practices and illegal practices at that election; and [Paragraph as amended by s. 87 of Act No. 17 of 2007] (c) the offences mentioned in the finding were of a trivial, unimportant and limited character; then the election of that candidate shall not, by reason of the offences mentioned in the finding, be void, nor shall the candidate or the chief election agent be subjected to any incapacity under this Act. [Section as amended by s. 87 of Act No. 17 of 2007] 157 When Electoral Court may hold certain acts or omissions to be exempt from provisions of this Act (1) When it appears to the Electoral Court, either on application or upon an election petition, that— (a) any act or omission of a candidate at an election or of his or her chief election agent or of another agent or person, which but for this section would be an illegal practice, has been done or made in good faith through inadvertence or accidental miscalculation or some other reasonable cause of a like nature; and (b) by reason of the circumstances it would be just that the candidate or his or her chief election agent or other agent or person, or any of them, should not be subject to any of the consequences under this Act of the said act or omission; the Electoral Court may make an order allowing the act or omission to be an exception from the provisions of this Act which would otherwise make the act or omission an illegal practice, and thereupon the candidate, agent or person shall not be subject to any of the consequences under this Act of the said act or omission. (2) Where application is made for relief in terms of subsection (1), the Electoral Court, before hearing the application, shall be satisfied that reasonable notice of the application has been given in the constituency or area in which the election was held. 158 Hearing of person accused of corrupt practice or illegal practice Before any person, not being a party to an election petition or a candidate on behalf of whom the seat is claimed by an election petition, is found by the Electoral Court to have been guilty of any electoral malpractice, the Electoral Court shall cause notice to be given to such person and, if he or she appears in pursuance of the notice, shall give him or her an opportunity of being heard and of calling evidence to show why no such finding should be recorded against him or her. [Section as amended by s. 87 of Act No. 17 of 2007] 159 Finding on charge of electoral malpractice Any person charged with— (a) a corrupt practice may, if the circumstances warrant such a finding, be found guilty of an intimidatory practice or an illegal practice; 125