22 Apr 2019

Voters have been implored to inspect voters roll to verify whether their particulars have been captured correctly.

Principal elections officer, Mr Guylord Ralekwae, told a Party Liaison Committee (PLC) meeting in Maun recently that 36 000 people who had registered to vote were rejected by the scanning machine during the uploading process for the first registration exercise which ended in December. 

He said they were rejected either due to mismatch of names, Omang numbers not captured correctly, multiple registrations and underage registration.

He said out of the 36 000, 14 000 was for name errors while 12 000 was for incorrect identity cards. 

Mr Ralokwae stressed the need for the public to inspect rolls, adding that the roll was not only for politicians but for public as well.

He assured PLC members that his office would work ensure the mistake was corrected noting that they would make efforts to contact the affected voters.

He also appealed to the affected individuals not to re-register during the on-going supplementary registration which started on April 15. 

Registration officers engaged in the on-going supplementary registration were also advised to register as accurate as possible to avoid errors.

Members of the committee were also informed that overall numbers of registered voters in both Maun East and West constituencies changed after scanning. 

Mr Ralekwae pointed out that in Maun West, they registered 17 357 voters of which 122 had been rejected while 44 had passed on.

In Maun East, 14 943 voters registered of which 104 were rejected and 32 died.  

He urged committee members to continue encouraging members of the public to register saying this would be the last registration exercise.

The election officer, Mr Kgethang Mamabolo, explained that the data cleaning was a cumbersome process since some forms could not be scanned resulting in more voters’ names returned.

He said the scan did 60 000 forms a day instead of 100 000 forms. 

He stated that efforts would be made to reach the affected voters through various media outlets.

The chief election officer, Mr Jacob Motlhanka said voters roll shall be open for inspection at the office of the secretary during office hours.

In addition, he said a copy of existing roll for a constituency shall be kept at the office of the principal registration officer for that constituency and at such other places therein as the office might determine and shall be open for inspection by the public.

Committee members also learnt that any person could make hard copies of a roll or take extras during office hours at prescribed costs. 

Mr Motlhanka also appraised them on the procedures on objection, transfers and refusal to transfer. 

He explained that objection was done by completion of FORM G, then delivered to ythe IEC office for the constituency, with a deposit of P10 within 21 days in case of supplementary roll and 42 days in case of the general roll.

Mr Motlhanka stated that the magistrate decision shall be final and shall not be challenged in any proceedings whatsoever. 

On the issue of transfers, some members of the committee called on IEC to restrict transfers across polling stations and districts saying it encouraged trafficking of voters. 

They said at least transfers across constituency could be considered. 

They said it was disturbing since some prospective candidates were the ones leading transfers as they would transport a group of voters. 

But Mr Motlhanka explained that they had to abide by the law as it allowed transfers but stated that transfer should be genuine. 

He admitted that transfers were a concern because there was lack of honesty, but indicated that investigations would be conducted before it could be granted. 

He said they had experienced scenarios in the previous exercises where candidates brought groups of voters with vehicles and stressed that a voter should be the one leading the transfer, not a prospective candidate.  

Mr Motlhanka noted that the  office would determine a transfer if he/she was satisfied with the advanced reasons. Ends