Botswana. Supervisor of Elections. . Report to the Minister of State on the General Elections, 1974
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Botswana. Supervisor of Elections. Report to the Minister of State on the general elections, 1974. Gaborone, Government Printer [1974?] / 30p. 29cm. 1. Botswana-Pol. & govt. 2. Elections- Botswana. I • INDEX Page. Report to the Minister of State on the General Elections, 1974 Evaluation and Recommendations *"* Conclusion ...... 2 - • • • • 4 Title Appendix lA' A list of Constituencies, Polling Districts and Polling Stations showing the number of registered voters by constituency and polling station Appendix '/?' Authenticating Officers appointed in accordance with the Presidential Elections (Supplementary Provisions) Act >;• 12 Appendix 'C A list of Returning Officers for the Parliamentary Elections • ! l 13 Appendix Z)' A list of Returning Officers for the Local Government Elections .. ^ . 14 Appendix 'ZT Summary of the Parliamentary election results Appendix lF 17 A list of candidates in the Parliamentary Election showing the number of votes cast for each, number of votes in each constituency, and the majority gained by the winning can- didate and the percentage poll 18 Appendix '6" Summary of Local Government Election results by District or Town Council 20 Appendix 'IT A list of candidates in the Local Government election showing the number of votes cast tor each, the number of voters in each Polling District, the majority gained by the win- ning candidate, and the percentage poll / 22 Appendix T A list of political Parries registered under Section 149 of the Electoral Act 1969 30 Appendix ' J" A Report on-expenditure on the 1974 General Election 30 Sir, REPORT TO ™E MINISTER. OF STATE ON THE GENERAL ELECTIONS, 1974 SSSITOSSS: S.»=^^HS£s~rr?' Lo^l Government Election* become generally available to the public - - - > »S5S^S^as: • l^^sstsss^aSSSS^5^^-^-"5 5. Presidential nominations were received at the High Court in Iohatse hv fh#» ri,;nf i -r submitted their nominations and were declared validly nominated: ,CC' candidates (i) Sir Seretse Khama of the Botswana Democratic Party; ^ i^psps(ii) Bathoen Gaseitsiwe of the Botswana Nationasl Fron t number of voters who would be eligible to vote in the coming Election There were a total of ftn qKnp, • , between the closing of the Rolls for the previous General Election in June 1969 and Julv 31st 1974 hrfn ^'H?* total number of names on the Roll to 236 848. There were no new registradons^^of aUent ' ' *'"* ^ A SOOn aS 8 L ;K r J* * completed, staff requirements were estimated for each Polling Station usintr the Ming Office^,anointment m'mmise transport requirements. These names were submitted to the Elections office where the staff OffilToTih h f aW'ng IT" ^°vernment staff based in Gaborone. Letters were then sent out to all Presiding Officers on this list informing them that it was intended to appoint them to a particular Polling Station and asking for then comments so that reallocations or replacements could be made as necessary. * lL?" NOrTatIOn D3 t0t candidates were validly nominated for election to the National Assembly The Botswana Democratic Party nominated candidates^ all 32 constituencies, four of whom werrunorPosed S Botswana Independent Party nominated six candidates, the Botswana National Front, fourteen and the Botswana Peoples Party eight There were three Independent candidates. There were 362 candidates for the 176 Local of L^STrv! Dlst"cts, and sixty-six of the Polling Districts were uncontested. A summary of the total number 9 R^tur^nroffi16" haH K eS Stand,"g' acc°rding to ^cir Party, is included at Appendix "G". L H f g ^^nfoqnUeSted l° SCnd ,n 311 nom'nat'°ns to the Elections office as soon as possible after ? J T of no"?,natlo"s and bv 9-30 p.m. virtually all nominations had been submitted. This information enabled Plann,0g for packing of ballot boxes. A duplicate list of all equipment required for each Polline Station was prepared to ensure that the equipment packed for that Polling Station was correct. It pro^ between 100 and 40 ballot boxes a day once these forms had been prepared, using twoLfffrom the UccZns a^outck>orl^^hJf^iviir 'sTT' -°u "T^ tWO Weeks' durinS »*ich staff lists were finalised g Stat,ons wlthout and fnHoT JZ u L buildings were delivered to all but the nearest of these. Ballot boxes and indoor poUmg booths were then either delivered to District Headquarters for issue by District Commissioners . for Jfsue direct to Presiding Officers who were having from Gaborone. 0. Training of Elections staff and provision of information for candidates for the public occupied a consideranle Archives: tlme e E'eCti°nS """ ^ KvC GuidCS W™cd' roPies °f«^are lodged in"hc Gove" A Guide to Authenticating Officers A Guide to Returning Officer, for the Parliamentdry and Local Government Elections A Guide to Presiding Officers in the Parliamentary and'&caL Government Elections A Guide io Candidates for the Parliamentary Election A Guide to Candidates for the Local Government Election. • j <- " The hdp V6,e S a in an ZEgSsxSgt. ^vTna'^m' ^' T ""-ti-to-y ->e. The obvious tbat a complete re-reristration mu^Take^ h f ^ ^ WaS that the ro,,s werr incorrect. It is gLw„ " &„ . »&, • ~~ recommendations made in the Report on the General Elections lQfiqT Elect,on fndjn th!s regard, the registration cards should be pre-numbered and made accountable Hrt'r suPPorted- In short, these are that a /»- Gaborone'^) the name of a voter has to be written only-onceby the Registration Offic<£T.S =s)*tem should be devised so that nVh u ofp ,,in8 mfor whic h m & i'^T:st fr : °? office, and that voters' names should be'recor&d £flSK?V«2£ K^ ThT^ ^ » "* ***& regisu-ation number from several registered voters with l° d,Stinguish th«r ;r~-tg P.- ;he TH£ inhc ^-p-^ «* ****** specially trained J, he purpose,^en"" "" """ °U' * «"»P«™^ "voters"how ^'j0? * ""' «'«'»« "»uld be restricted t„ informing be better housed. There are also a few Z„ wLret£ t £!££* ^ ST'= indo°r sla,ions rould wiH be time consuming and should be begun" a«e " g S'at'°nS Sh°U'd be ***' A th°™*h ch«k were, ^sfgLCi 0^^ E'eCti°nS ^ T'^ 13^ Polling took place on Saturday, October 26th, 1974. The Polling Stations opened at 7 00 a m ,nrJ .1 ^ complaints received by the Elections office were referred direcSv to thTpXTf"1™ paPcrs. hadJ3een forSed- AH nation papers does not threaten the election system as it is unlikelv that A °J lnve®nSatIon- Forgery of nomi- supporters will win the Election Should he or she Hn«> FI • D • * candldate w^° ,s unable to garner nine Court. I recommend that he Ebctora let be amend 7, " F'""0" C°Uld S,i" bc brou^t before the High rCqU re 3 S gna Ure 3 contested constituencies, a polling percentage of 31 2°/ * ' in paperc, and ,0 disbar crossed ' ' ' " Sprint "ominatiL stamped with an official mark as required by Section 52 (tUi) in the° Fie TTA" J ^Mot Envc,0Pcs should bc the Local Councils (Conduct of Elections)^Re*Znl l^ S ? u T ^ a"d the ctJuivalent provision in immediately prior to a voter «iSS en ™S SyStCm °f marki"« <™<='°P« only a double check, however, T ^ Ball« B°* "'egaly. l\ is n mbered and an f^^SS&S^SSSSmH^daysXhc Pres. deft took the Oath of Office on Tuesday, 29th"bctober 1974 "" """ the numbers on every envelope dispatched to each DoUincr cr t" P ^ " account is kept of velope account, it is completely un^a ' to mark ,h 8 '0"' TdCd 3 S'riCt chcck is kcP' lhl; Ballot En- "c inc'udcd a'Appcndlx "F"'and «—"r»" 7- Evaluation and Recommendations tin should be accounted for. This recommendation wac 'V e,r E ?' a"d that thc enveloPe ,n thc discard l0te^s=ed-r a ballot could be Lntified by ^ T ^ ^ P™"'s important to be able to check the ballot nfa nartir i T L- ° therefore arises as to whether it is more Should be amended^^o ensutthat'S " ^ RCgU.,ati°n " Whethcr ,hc Cy y P erson s votc 1 the ballot should become completely secret There is evidence th . " u - recommend that because of the provision in this Section and there ^ T" Pe?,C Th<> WCre regis,Cred did H01 vote check a particular person's vote Counted Ballots should still he L ^ ° ti'at C ?'gh CoUr, Wl1' CVCI nced to iipsissiggsis are no illegal envelopes ^t "" * S"' Bas^eee >emat: thai "T' ^ SS2^^ii«irp«&S3SS J and d |lat Cd e R Appendix A ? ? *° ? «^ Officers for the constituencies or polling districts in which those vjtfe^are to be counted, and opened at the time of the main count 34. The most unsatiifactoiy aspect of Polling Day was the packing up of the Polling Stations at tfiTclose of poll, and STAFF REQUIREMENTS - 1974 ELECTIONS InVShSf 8 ^ STJatC P,ackageS" F°r this e,ection' 1 Provided enWlopes which were to be sealed en IOp d boxes ^fh ^ ^ H• « ^ ™ A w^eff completely unmarked, causing difficulties for Voters both Returning Officers and Elections officestatf A consid<frabl«rdegree of confusion could be eliminated by pro- Revered Aliens Constituent y Polling District vid'ng pre-marked envelopes and possibly by- improvingjthe direction* in the Guide to Presiding Officers - Polling Station at 31 /7/T4 Registered a 0t C 0Unt was com Iete o;toI^97 .i T K P d quickly in this Election. All results were in to me by 9.30 p.m. on Sunday, October 27th. This was only achieved because Returning Officers and their assistants worked throughout the-nigh, Maun and Chobe (1) Kasane Kazungula School cou nt,n staff had w 290 - 15* h wo °L h f 8 already °*ed a long day as Presiding Office* and were extremefy tired.