This is the machine which, come 2019 and barring any intervention either from the courts or some miracle, Batswana will have to use to elect a new government.
The EVM was introduced following the amendment to the Electoral Act which dealt away with our normal and conventional way of voting which simply was by putting a cross on one’s desired candidate or party. The amendment was of course shrouded in controversy and evident secrecy as the Bill was passed at the close of a sitting Parliament and at very awkward and rather unusual hours by our legislators. There has since been an outcry from the general public and opposition political parties from across the divide on the amendment of the Electoral Act. Concerns have been raised on account that the amendments fail to pass the necessary constitutional musters and that issues remain alive before the courts. I am therefore constrained to offer an opinion on that aspect. Another uproar emanates from the unorthodox manner in which the motion to amend the Electoral Act was passed without the necessary scrutiny that one would have expected from this drastic paradigm shift in the manner of voting.
