Returning Officers or Assistant Returning Officers for purposes of conducting an election in a constituency” thereby opening the possibility of appointing partisan returning officers. 11. The Applicants also allege that section 7(3) of the NEA, on the appointment of returning officers, “… portrays a restriction to those who also want to be appointed but do not hold any public office and secondly, it bears no proper qualifications other than just one holding a public office” thereby violating their rights under “… Articles 1, 3, 13(1), 21(1) & 2, 25(2) and 74(7) of the Charter, UDHR, ICCPR and the URTC respectively.” 12. The Applicants further allege that the various provisions of the NEA, as referred to herein earlier, allowed the Respondent State to “appoint a number District Executive Directors who were members of the Chama Cha Mapinduzi6 and also acted as Returning Officers throughout the Respondent State, an act which grossly violated Article 1, 3, 13(1), 21(1) & (2), 25(2) and 74(7) of the Charter, UDHR, ICCPR and the URTC.” III. SUMMARY OF THE PROCEDURE BEFORE THE COURT 13. The Application was received at the Registry of the Court on 6 March 2020 and served on the Respondent State on 17 March 2020. The Respondent State was given sixty (60) days to file its Response. 14. The Respondent State filed its Response on 17 August 2020 and this was transmitted to the Applicants on 20 August 2020. The Applicants were given thirty (30) days to file a Reply. 15. On 21 September 2020, the Applicants filed a Reply and this was transmitted to the Respondent State on the same day for its information. 6 Chama cha Mapinduzi is a political party in the Respondent State. In English, the Swahili name translates to “party of the revolution.” 5