Last week’s failure by the Independent Electoral Commission to accord polling officers an opportunity to vote ahead of the general elections, and the subsequent decision to postpone their voting date to October 16th, the date of the general elections, evokes serious doubts as to whether this year’s general elections will proceed smoothly.
The explanation that was given for this glaring mishap was that the printers, Universal Printers of Durban (South Africa) had made errors when printing the ballot papers. While the printers admitted to that error, they also highlighted that the IEC had given them an unreasonably short period of time to print the ballot papers, resulting in the printing errors.
It is apparent that the IEC and Universal Printers have a long standing relationship, as the latter was also responsible for printing ballot papers for Botswana in the 1994 general elections.
The question that immediately comes to mind is why the IEC failed to hand over the relevant documents to Universal Printers for them to print the ballot papers on time. The election date has long been announced, and the IEC knew that polling officers had to vote before the general elections. So why did the IEC have to wait until there was very limited time, and then force Universal Printers to print the ballot papers within a short time? As it is, Universal Printers have actually shifted the blame to IEC.
And then, without even bothering to consult the relevant stakeholders, including political parties, the IEC calls an ad hoc press conference and announces that the polling officers will vote during the general elections. How can they work and vote at the same time?
What has now transpired is that most of the polling officers, like all other Batswana, have registered to vote at their areas of abode, not at their work places. It is obvious, and it is a common practice known to the IEC, that people generally register to vote at their home villages or home towns, not at the areas where they are employed.
That is why the IEC set September 29th as the date in which the polling officers were to vote, because they would be able to travel to their home villages, cast their votes, and enjoy the independence celebrations. How then will they be able to travel to their home villages to cast their vote, and then travel back to their polling stations to do their job? Was the IEC not aware of the logistical problems that are inherent in the decision that they took? Was there no other date before October 16th that could have been set aside to accord the polling officers a chance to go home and vote? Why October 16th? They cannot vote on that date, they will be assisting Batswana to vote!
As it is, alarm bells are already ringing, and we are increasingly becoming concerned and doubtful of the capability of the IEC to effectively and prudently manage what is arguably the most competitive and volatile general election in the history of Botswana.
Worse still, we have not been updated as to whether the correct ballot papers have been delivered. The promised date has come and gone with no word from the IEC. Will we vote on October 16th?
A recent ad-hoc IEC meeting, still held without the input of other stakeholders, apparently failed to come up with a tangible solution to the problem. The reason forwarded was that the IEC is still not cognizant of the gravity of the problem because they are awaiting feedback from area officers as to how many polling officers have to travel long distances to cast their vote.
By October 9th, the IEC officers were still twiddling their thumbs and waiting for a response from the area officers, while, with only a week left, the nation awaits for a general election that, god forbid, might never materialize.
There have even been suggestions that the polling officers might be forced to vote at their stations. This is blasphemy! It is the democratic right of the polling officers to vote at their preferred polling stations because that way they will vote for their preferred candidates.
Still groping in the dark, the IEC is also apparently considering transporting electoral officers to their voting places and back to their polling stations during Election Day. There are in some estimates 30,000 of those people.
It will present insurmountable logistical nightmares for the IEC to think that they will be able to sort out the problem, through either swapping, transportation or otherwise, on the day of elections.
As it is, 30 000 polling officers, who sacrificed to see this nation’s democratic ideals being exercised, stand at risk of being denied their right to vote because of the errors of the IEC. Batswana also stand at risk of being denied their right to choose a government of their own should the polling officers, who man 22,800 polling stations over the country, choose to travel to their polling stations to vote on election day.
What is even more worrisome is that the Office of the President remains mum over this issue. While Batswana are becoming increasingly fidgety, in the face of an obviously hapless IEC, the leadership of this country looks the other way and fails to at least reassure Batswana that, come October 16th, we will vote for a government of our choice.
