10 Aug 2016

The Minister for Presidential Affairs and Public Administration, Mr Eric Molale, on Tuesday presented the Electoral (Amendment) Bill to Parliament.
The objective of the bill was to amend the Electoral Act in order to improve efficiency in the electoral process.
Minister Molale said the bill addressed issues including electronic voting, registration of voters, preparation of rolls, deleting provisions for supplementary rolls and assistance of voters by election officers.
In his debate, MP for Okavango, Mr Bagalatia Arone, said he supported the bill because it conformed and promoted the use of ICT thus putting Botswana at par with other countries who already using the electronic voting system. He said the use of electronic voting system was auditable as records were available.
Mr Arone said the system sped up the election process, adding that countries that are forward thinking are already implementing citing Namibia as an example.
MP for Mmadinare, Mr Kefentse Mzwinila, supported the bill because of what he termed improved efficiency in the voting system.
He said it reduced the turnaround time as people would not queue the whole day to vote then wait again for counting.
MP for Jwaneng-Mabutsane Mr Shawn Ntlhaile said he was against the manner in which the bill was brought to Parliament because Batswana had not been consulted.
He said such bills needed Batswana to be consulted so as to get their views and opinion about the new developments.
Mr Ntlhaile said they needed sufficient evidence to prove that the system was efficient and reliable adding that some countries had in the past indicated that they did not  approve  it.
MP for Palapye, Mr Moiseraela Goya, stated that Botswana was a developing country hence Batswana should not be denied something that was of great benefit to them.
Mr Goya said Botswana was highly populated with youth who tended to be impatient to queue for long duration and argued that the system was a great development that would ensure more youth participate in the voting process.
MP for Lentsweletau- Mmopane, Mr Vincent Seretse, said people should not be afraid to explore technology and new inventions.
He said in the past, counting took longer because ballot boxes had to be transported to counting stations, something which he said would be addressed by the new system.
For his part, MP for Kanye North MP, Mr Patrick Ralotsia, said the new system would improve the running of elections adding that Batswana were a techno savvy nation as evidenced by their use of mobile phones.
However, he advised that with the new system every stakeholder  role should be articulated so that there are no misunderstandings and confusions on the day of elections.
MP for Selebi Phikwe West, Mr Dithapelo Keorapetse, said he was against the electronic system because it did not  meet democracy standards and posed high security risks.
He pointed out  that the bill needed public consultation before it could be brought to Parliament because machines were not reliable.
Mr Keorapetse said there were serious security concerns with the electronic voting system adding that even in India where they benchmarked,  there were challenges with the machines.
MP for Tati East, Mr Samson Guma said the system had audit trails and balance checks and a backup plan hence supporting the bill.
He said with manual counting, waiting period was long and  not efficient as there were situations of recounts.
MP for Tati West, Mr Biggie Butale, said he supported the bill advising that people should not be suspicious that the system would bring problems.ENDS