ELECTORAL ACT ____________________________________________________________________________________ 179 Election petition terminated on death of petitioner (1) An election petition shall be terminated by the death of the sole petitioner or of all the petitioners, as the case may be, but such abatement shall not affect the liability of the estate of the petitioner or petitioners for the payment of costs previously incurred. (2) On the termination of a petition, any person who might have been a petitioner in respect of the election to which the petition relates may, within twenty-one days after such termination, apply to the Electoral Court to be substituted as a petitioner, and the Electoral Court may thereupon, if it thinks fit, substitute as a petitioner any such applicant who is desirous of being substituted and on whose behalf security to the same amount is given as is required in the case of a new petition. 180 Position when respondent does not oppose election petition A respondent who has given notice that he or she does not intend to oppose the election petition shall not, without the leave of the Electoral Court, be allowed to appear or to act as a party against the election petition in any proceedings thereon, and shall not sit or vote in Parliament, pending the result of the trial of the petition, and the Electoral Court shall, in all cases in which such notice has been given, report the same to the Commission. 181 Costs of election petition (1) All costs, charges and expenses of and incidental to the presentation of an election petition, and to the proceedings consequent thereon, shall be defrayed by the parties to the election petition in such manner and in such proportion as the Electoral Court may determine, regard being had to— (a) the disallowance of any costs, charges or expenses which may, in the opinion of the Electoral Court, have been caused by vexatious conduct, unfounded allegations or unfounded objections on the part either of the petitioner or of the respondent; and (b) the discouragement of any needless expense by throwing the burden of defraying the same on the parties by whom it has been caused, whether such parties are or are not on the whole successful. (2) The costs referred to in subsection (1) may be taxed and recovered in the same manner as the costs of civil proceedings in the High Court. (3) If— (a) any petitioner makes default, for a period of thirty days after demand, in paying to any person summoned as a witness on his or her behalf or to the respondent any sum certified to be due to him or her for his costs, charges or expenses; and (b) the default is proved to the satisfaction of the Electoral Court; every person who has entered into a recognizance relating to the petition shall be held to have made default in his or her said recognizance, and the registrar of the Electoral Court shall thereupon certify such recognizance to be forfeited, and execution may thereupon, by leave of the Electoral Court, be sued out thereon at the suit of any such witness or respondent as occasion may require. 182 Time within which election petitions and appeals thereon to be determined (1) Every election petition shall be determined within six months from the date of presentation. (2) An appeal under section 172 (2) shall be determined within three months from the date of the lodging of the appeal. (3) For the purpose of ensuring that an election petition or an appeal is determined within the time-limit prescribed in subsection (1) or (2), as the case may be— (a) the Judge President of the High Court or the presiding judge of the Electoral Court, in the case of an election petition; and 136