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If voting blues still persist you can search the Government discussion forums for the topic "Registering to vote" as indicated in the heading of this post.

Voting nightmares!

If you feel depressed about allegations of tampering with the voters roll for the impending elections, try re-reading this for comfort:

http://myikalanga.blogspot.com/2013/03/why-voter-registration.html

Why should voters roll be kept secret ?

The WeekendPost newspaper of 27 September 2014 carries a report headlined "IEC on high alert over rigging claims". The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) spokesperson, Mr. Osupile Maroba is reported to have "assured to [sic] the public at large that no one besides IEC has access to voters roll and that ...".

I am not a lawyer, therefore for all I know there may be some law, or even the constitution itself, which empowers the IEC to hide the voters roll from the voters themselves. But would such a law, if indeed it exists, make sense ?

When I registered to vote, all the information that I was asked to supply is on my National Identity document (Omang) that the law requires me to have on my person EVERYWHERE I AM IN THE COUNTRY. To this information the recording clerk added my postal address and the name of the Polling station where I was registering.

All the above information about me is public information, the release of which does not endanger public security in any way whatsoever. The information is ALL that my individual record on the voters roll should contain, and the voters roll is just a collection of many similar individual records. Why then should the voters roll be kept a secret ?

In my view transparency in the voting process would be best served by the IEC publishing the voters roll online and (transparently) editing it until the cut-off date just before the elections. If by so doing, the IEC would be contravening any law, then I challenge all political formations to tell us, the voters, what changes they will make to such a law in the event that they win the 2014 general elections.

Our Nijel Amos

Nijel Amos is a highly talented young man. If ever there was a Botswanan about whom one could write that the sky is the limit, Nijel Amos is that guy. His performance at the last Olympics 800 meters race when he came second to David Rudisha was sterling.

I would have hoped therefore that all his subsequent performances, including the one where he beat Rudisha would be meticulously srutinised to determine whether or not his performance is improving AGAINST THE CLOCK. Unfortunately, all newspapers just sing his praises, as if his target was to beat Rudisha, regardless of whether Rudisha was limping or whatever. We are not even told whether by beating Rudisha, Nijel had actually bettered his own Olympic performance! Granted, Nijel is a very delicate young man. However, he is a sportsman, and the best we have at middle distance. We must not encourage him to aim at beating so-and-so, at the expense of beating the clock!

The quality of sports reporting really needs to improve in this country.  

Youth beware! Burnt election card is ceded vote!

Today's Echo newspaper carries a story of one Poloko Pitwane who, for whatever reason, was rejected by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) when he attempted to register as an Independent candidate for the forthcoming 2014 General Elections. Mr. Pitwane is a politicized young man, therefore there can be no doubt that his voice is representative of a good section of the youth. The newspaper alleges that Mr. Pitwane has indicated that his supporters may burn their voter registration cards in protest at his barring by the IEC.

While I strongly sympathize with Mr. Pitwane, I am aware, as many people are, that "burning a voter registration card" is not equivalent to "burning a vote".  A voter registration card can be reprinted, and can be used by an impostor to vote! What this means is that burning a voter registration card is actually equivalent to GIVING A FREE VOTE TO WHOEVER PRINTS THE VOTER REGISTRATION CARDS. Once the registrations have been done, duplicates for any lost or "burnt" cards can be produced in a matter of minutes!

The voter will be shocked to learn, after the vote has passed, that he/she actually voted, despite having "burnt" his/her card! So, don't burn or surrender your voter registration cards; instead mark all candidates on the ballot, and thus SPOIL your vote. That way, your vote will actually be recorded and counted as a protest vote.