IEC Announces Voter Registration Dates
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Monday August 21, 2017 16:22
The IEC announced that it would conduct registration from September 3 to November 11, 2018 for those eligible to vote in the 2019 general election.
The commission said the decision to call for registration was largely due to the amendment of the Electoral Act, which deleted Section 8 of the Electoral Act. Section 8 of the Electoral Act provided for supplementary and continuous registration of voters.
The cancellation of supplementary registration was done by Cabinet not the IEC, Public Accounts Committee (PAC) heard recently.
Therefore, if one misses an opportunity to register for the election then s/he would not have a chance to vote for the candidate s/he could have wished to vote for. The registration would be done in all 57 constituencies of the country. The IEC has done that in terms of Section 7 (1).
However, Umbrella for Democratic Change spokesperson, Moeti Mohwasa said he believes the announced months would deny youth, who will be turning 18 in December and January, the chance to vote.
“Of course, we understand that IEC should be given enough time to prepare the voters’ roll, but we wish registration could be done six months prior to the elections. Again the court case for Electronic Voting Machine will even challenge cancellation of supplementary registration,” Mohwasa said.
The Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) communication chairperson, Fish Pabalinga said his party is already preparing itself for the 2019 elections and it welcomes the development.
“We will abide by the same dates announced and our duty will be to ensure that our members have registered for the elections. The only disadvantage might be from our youth who would be turning 18 after the registered time. The BDP is already on the right track when it comes to election preparation,” Pabalinga told The Monitor.
He said they would have to plan as a party how Bulela Ditswe (BDP primary elections) do not affect election registration.