23 Jan 2017

The status of the electoral amendment bill has now been modified as it was passed by parliament and signed into law by the President recently.

Speaking during a kgotla meeting in Shakawe on Wednesday, the Independent Electoral Commission Coordinator for Election Voting System, Mr Gabriel Seeletso said the changes place the commission under obligation and duty bound to implement the law to the best of its ability.

He said duties of the secretary to the commission have been extended to include the promotion of civic and voter education noting that although it has always done that in the past without legal backing but it is now a statutory obligation.

Mr Seeletso noted that such responsibilities have been enhanced to include the recruitment of poll staff under terms and conditions determined by the commission.

He also noted that the law now provides the introduction of electronic voting machines which would not be computer based rather battery powered and would not require electricity to function which will be catering for places without power from the national grid; adding that the battery will be envisaged to last for over 20 hours of continuous use.

The IEC coordinator said the machine would be reliable, user friendly, secure and meet Botswana’s geographical conditions as well must provide value for money, adding that the machine will replace the conventional voting while other voting processes remain unchanged.

Furthermore he noted that the process of counting votes will be faster since they will be counted electronically while spoilt ballots will be eliminated, adding that supplementary registration has been cancelled as there will be only one registration window whose timing and duration remains the prerogative of the commission.

Mr Seeletso explained that candidates deposits and fines have been reviewed upwards from P100 as per registration of councillor seat to P1000 while the registration fee for member of parliament seat has been raised from P500 to P5000 per candidate.

He said the deposits will not be refunded after a successfully nominated candidate has contested an election unless under circumstances like when the candidate dies before the date of the election, there is no contested election, a contested election is considered void, he withdraws his candidature in due time or if his nomination is invalid for any other reasons. BOPA