IEC shrugs off registration responsibility
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Monday February 5, 2024 06:00
The IEC has set a target to register 1.7 million, which many believe that the organisation cannot easily reach unless there is a robust campaign to register more people.
As of this week, the electoral body revealed that only 451,870 have registered to vote meaning more than 50% of the intended target had not registered approaching the deadline day.
With various stakeholders stating that the IEC is not doing enough to encourage people to register, the Commission’s spokesperson Osupile Maroba told Mmegi that encouraging the public to register is everyone’s responsibility from family to all stakeholders. He was quick to indicate that the responsibility should not be put on the IEC only because its focus is electoral management. He pointed out that the IEC provides information on electoral processes.
Despite some stakeholders’ view that IEC’s efforts should not be limited to just the months leading up to the election, Maroba said the Commission believes that what it is currently doing to encourage Batswana to register is adequate within its capacity. “We are continuing to do campaigns to lure people to register for elections. So far, we have mounted significant publicity campaigns on radio, television, social media and stakeholder meetings. This includes public address systems,” he said. With the IEC not shouldering the registration responsibility more political education is needed to help increase voter registration and encourage more people to participate in the democratic process. Contacted for comment, Botswana Congress Party (BCP) spokesperson Professor Mpho Pheko said voter education persuasion lies with the IEC because the latter has to encourage people to register for elections.
According to Pheko, the IEC should be focusing on educating children as young as 13, since they will be eligible by the time the next election rolls around. In this way, she said the Commission can help ensure that future generations are knowledgeable and engaged in the political process. She added that by starting political education at a young age, voters will have a better understanding of the importance of their vote by the time they reach the legal voting age of 18. Pheko said this would improve voter turnout and engagement in the democratic process, adding that providing children with political education at a younger age could help to ease any anxiety or confusion they may feel when it is time to cast their ballots for the first time. The BCP spokesperson believes that the IEC is uniquely positioned to conduct political education to learners since it has the authority to go into schools and speak to students directly.
However, she also believes that the IEC needs to receive adequate funding from the government to carry out this task. Pheko is advocating for a multi-pronged approach to political education, with both the IEC and civil society organisations playing a role in the democratic process. Furthermore, she said this would help to ensure that a wide range of perspectives and voices are represented in the education process. Moreover, Pheko believes that some people choose not to vote because they feel let down by politicians who fail to keep their promises. She said this disillusionment can lead to apathy and a lack of motivation to participate in the political process.
Pheko encouraged Batswana to register to vote so that they can take back control and hold politicians accountable for their actions and misactions. Pheko said her party has been doing house-to-house campaigns to encourage its members to register for elections. “What helped us as a party is that we have had our primary elections last year and it makes it easier to campaign for them while at the same time encouraging people to register for elections. Another factor which seems to be discouraging people to register is that some parties have not yet held their primary elections,” Pheko said. For his part, Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) spokesperson, Kagelelo Kentse said the IEC needs to do more to promote voter registration. “We are concerned about low voter registration. The IEC can increase its visibility by using more advertising and public outreach to educate people about the importance of voting,” he said. He pointed out that they need to be more proactive in communicating with the public and explaining why it is important to cast a vote. Kentse emphasised that political education is a critical piece of the puzzle when it comes to increasing voter registration and participation. In addition to increasing visibility, Kentse suggests that the IEC should collaborate with a variety of stakeholders to encourage voter registration. The BDP spokesperson is specifically concerned about the IEC’s progress towards its target for voter registration.
While he is concerned about the current rate of voter registration, Kentse remains optimistic that the situation can be turned around in the remaining time before the deadline. However, some people are hopeful that even if the intended target is not reached supplementary registration would redeem the situation. In 2019, only 747, 601 which translates to 59% of the target had registered to vote. This week the IEC emphasised that it has no plans to extend the exercise and that this year's general election is sure to proceed as planned even if it doesn’t reach the 1.7 million target. "The chance to register is now, the election will not stop because only 400,000 + people have registered by deadline day. The IEC is not intending to extend voter registration deadline beyond February 3," Maroba told Mmegi this week General voter registration started on January 5, 2024, and ends on February 3, 2024. Botswana is going to its general election this year in October.