BDP to issue membership cards on polling day

Chakalisa Dube | Friday January 19, 2018 17:21

 

The cards will be used to vote at the primaries. Francistown South is amongst the18 opposition held constituencies that will hold primaries over the weekend. Winners of the weekend primaries will secure candidacy for the 2019 general elections. 

“We recently invited party members to come and collect their cards in order to participate at the primaries. Only 2,000 people turned up. Over 1,000 people did not collect their cards. We have now resolved that they will collect their cards on election day. They will collect the cards at polling stations in their respective wards,” Francistown region chairperson, Baemedi Medupi said.

Medupi said the decision was taken during a party meeting over the weekend. “We do not want a situation where some party members will collect the cards on behalf of others. We have done that in the past and people ended up not receiving their cards and in the process did not vote at the primaries,” Medupi explained the rationale behind the weekend decision.

He also said the party is ready for elections in the constituency and has already identified polling areas that would be used over the weekend. “We have also identified a team (outside the region) that will coordinate the elections.”

Modiri Lucas, former area legislator Khumongwana Maoto as well as former deputy mayor Lamodimo Dikomang will headline the primaries in Francistown South. The trio is contesting the parliamentary primaries.

In the past, primary elections candidates have hinted that those tasked with distributing the cards do not issue them. They said that in most cases council candidates and their campaign teams distributed the cards against laid down rules. They said that the candidates and the campaign teams usually hide cards of those who do not favour them in order to maintain their competitive edge at the primaries.

At the 2013 primaries some members did not vote during the primaries because they had not received their voting cards. In most instances it was discovered that some of their cards had been deliberately dumped or withheld (by opposing teams) to prevent them from voting.

At the 2013 primaries, over 600 membership cards allegedly destined for BDP members at Ditladi ward in the Tati East were found dumped on the streets.