Observers hail Botswana elections
Sharon Mathala | Monday October 27, 2014 17:50
Briefing the media yesterday on their preliminary report she said that this is a noteworthy observation by the mission because participation by citizen observers is crucial.
“The mission notes the low presence of citizen observer groups at polling stations, this is a noteworthy observation since the participation of citizen observers is crucial to the reinforcement of the credibility and legitimacy of the electoral process,” she said.
Banda, however, praised the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) for its efforts to ensure that the elections are run in due process.
“Party and candidate agents were present at all polling stations visited by the AUEOM and seemed aware of their roles and responsibilities,”
She further commended the IEC saying that they also noted and commend the provision of voter register to party and candidate agents’ in order to double check voters’ identification against the list.
Banda also noted that while the voters’ rolls clearly showed that women constitute the majority of the voters in Botswana, it was not reflected in the political parties nomination for candidates for both Office of the President and National Assembly.
The final roll which was published after the amalgamation process had a total of 824,424 registered voters, which composed of 368,347 males and 456,087 females.
“However, the mission commends the effort by the IEC to include minority groups in the electoral process, for instance for these elections the commission developed a special ballot paper to assist visual impaired persons,” she said.
Banda also said that over 98% of the polling stations they visited opened on time. She also mentioned that there were visible queues outside all the polling stations which she says were managed in an orderly manner by the officials assisted by the police officers.
“We noted a generally calm and orderly atmosphere around the polling stations prior to and during the opening process. The atmosphere in all polling stations was peaceful, we note with satisfaction that the conduct of polling officials, voters, and party agents were in accordance with procedures thus voters were able to cast their vote within a reasonable period of time,” she said.
For their part, the head of Southern African Development Community (SADC) Electoral Observation Mission (SEOM) and Minister of International Relations And Cooperation in South Africa, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said that they too noted that the election process was peaceful, free and fair, transparent and credible, thus reflecting the will of the people of Botswana in accordance with the national electoral laws and the SADC principles and guidelines governing democratic elections.
“Some of the best practices we observed include freedom of association and expression during the electoral campaigns. Political tolerance demonstrated during the campaign period as members of competing parties were able to interact with each other in a positive and mature manner even at rallies,” She said.
She further praised IEC saying that there was generally a peaceful political environment throughout the electoral period. However, she recommended to the government that they should consider the use of indelible ink to prevent double voting under any circumstances.
“They should also consider the use of a scanner to scan the identity document of the voter to prevent double voting as well as a concerted effort to encourage women to stand as political candidates,” she advised.