Africa-Press – Botswana. The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has released the First Supplementary Voters Roll in readiness for the 21 days statutory inspection period, as per Section 15 of the Electoral Act.
A press release from IEC says the statutory inspection of the roll will be done from May 30 to 19 June, in all 61 constituencies. It says copies of the roll will be available for inspection at the office of the Secretary to the Commission, as well as those of District Commissioners, Council Secretaries or Town Clerks and Chief Elections Officers or Principal Elections Officers around the country.
Other than the Secretary to the Commission, the release explains that these are officers who served as Principal Registration Exercise from February 26 to 15 March, 2024. Similarly, for the convenience of voters, it says the Commission will also provide copies of Polling Districts (Council Ward) rolls at some dikgotla in each constituency, for Batswana residing there to have an opportunity to participate effectively in this critical process.
“Moreover, it is also important to note that the Commission has 74 395 voters validly registered in this roll, spread across the 61 constituencies. There are also 784 voters whose registration was rejected for two main reasons: 52 were rejected because they registered whilst not meeting the minimum age requirement, whist 732 were rejected on account of them having been validly registered elsewhere,” explains the release.
The Commission, as per the release, advises Batswana who registered for the 2024 general elections, during the first supplementary voters registration exercise from the February 26 to March 15, to visit places where the rolls will be placed for inspection.
“It is the voter’s right and responsibility to inspect the rolls with a view to perfect it so that there are no queries on the day of the poll,” adds the release.
If anybody wishes to own copy of the roll, in terms of Section 16 (3) of the Electoral Act, the release says they can have a hard copy, upon payment of a fee determined from time to time by the Secretary of the Commission, adding that the applicable fee is currently P1.75, per page of the roll.
Furthermore, in accordance with Section 14 of the Electoral Act, it says the process has already been activated for issuance of appropriate notice regarding publication of the rolls for inspections by members of the public in the government Gazette and ‘members of the public can expect such notice to be issued anytime today’.
The Commission, as per the release, advises stakeholders and members of the public to familiarize themselves with Section 16 of the Electoral Act, which deals specially with the inspection of the rolls and Section 18 of the Act, focusing on processing of objections in respect of the same rolls.
“Sections 26 and 27 of the Act are also quite instructive on issues of formal alterations to the rolls, as well as procedure for alteration of the rolls, respectively. All these Sections of the Electoral Act, combined, may be helpful to a voter in case they wish to raise issues pertaining to the said rolls,” adds the release.
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