26 Feb 2020

Continuous research in the area of elections is critical in providing insights into electoral functions, Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) chairperson, Judge Abedinco Tafa has said.

    He was speaking on February 25 at the commencement of a two-day national stakeholder evaluation workshop for the 2019 general elections.

  Judge Tafa revealed that IEC  had started collaborating with the University of Botswana, Statistics Botswana and other organisations to conduct some surveys.

  He stressed the need for a voter apathy study noting that the last one was conducted in 2002.

 The IEC chairperson also underscored the importance of election evaluation in improving the electoral processes.

  He said recommendations from the workshop may result in electoral reforms in preparation for the 2024 poll.

The recommendations would then be submitted to government in preparation for the 13th electoral cycle, which would culminate  in the delivery of the next general election.

IEC secretary, Ms Keireng Zuze said some of the challenges encountered by IEC in the 2019 general election included the manual nature of the voter registration process which she described as strenuous, labour intensive, time-consuming and prone to human error.

Ms Zuze also lamented the low registration turnout saying only 73 per cent registered for the 2019 elections against an IEC target of 80 per cent.

She said the tight timeline between nominations and polling day resulted in limited time for printing of ballot papers, distribution of election materials and the conduct of diaspora and advance polls.

Ms Zuze however said the challenges presented an opportunity for engagement with key stakeholders to enhance electoral processes in preparation for 2024.

“We, therefore, look forward to fruitful engagements, which will result in recommendations to address some of the challenges encountered during the build-up to the last general elections,” she said.

The workshop, organised by IEC, was attended by key stakeholders among them civil society, churches, party representatives and election officers. 

Participants were to identify gaps in the electoral process and make recommendations for consideration in preparation for the next elections. ends