External voting in Botswana was introduced fairly recently, as part of a package of constitutional and electoral reforms in 1997. The Constitutional Amendment Act of 1997, section 4, subsection (a) reduced the voting age from 21 to 18 years, while the Electoral Act section 5(3) amendment of 1997 permitted citizens resident outside the country to vote externally. Other major reforms made at the same time included the establishment of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) and the introduction of a limit to the term of office of the president to two terms of five years each. These substantive electoral reforms were the first of their kind since Botswana attained its independence from the United Kingdom (UK) in 1966. Previously, there had been occasional minor amendments to the electoral law, for instance, relating to the procedure for the counting of ballot papers, the type of ballot paper/discs, or adjustments to the campaign spending limits for candidates and political parties.
The reforms of 1997 took two forms. Because they involved changing some clauses of the constitution, those relating to the voting age and the establishment of the IEC were preceded by a national referendum, while those relating to the amendment of the electoral law were discussed and changed by the parliament without recourse to public consultation. However, all the final decisions were made by the parliament and acceded to by the president, thus becoming law.
These reforms were the result both of a long period of advocacy, mainly by the opposition parties and some sections of the civil society organizations, and of the rapid political changes of a similar nature taking place in Southern Africa during the late 1990s. In particular, changes made in Namibia in 1989, in Zambia in 1991, and in Malawi, Mozambique and South Africa in 1994 all introduced the concept of the independent electoral commission, made 18 years the voting age, introduced a limited term for the presidency, and introduced external voting, all as measures to extend democratic rights to wider sections of the population. As a long-established democracy in the region, Botswana would have appeared backward in the context of these changes taking place around it. However, the government was selective in aligning itself with the electoral reforms taking place in the region at the time. For example, the government and the ruling party did not agree with two other proposals, on the funding of political parties and change of the First Past The Post (FPTP) electoral system to the list proportional representation (PR) system which the opposition parties were advocating and which was being adopted by Namibia, Mozambique and South Africa at the time.
The external voting provisions permit all Botswanan citizens aged 18 years or above residing abroad to vote every five years. External voters may vote only for members of Parliament, not for local councillors. (Presidential elections are indirect in Botswana: the president is elected by Parliament.) External voting was introduced mainly because of the concerns raised by the opposition parties. It was felt that citizens outside Botswana were being denied their democratic right to vote for their own government. With the voting age being reduced to 18 years as opposed to 21, the external voting-age population was increased, hence a need to involve them in voting.
External voting procedure
External voting procedure follows that which applies to registration and voting at home. Normally there are two main periods of concentrated registration, followed by a continuous registration until about six weeks or so before the election date. External voters register at Botswanan embassies and high commissions abroad and in major cities and centres in countries where there is expected to be an eligible voter population. So far only Australia, South Africa, the UK, the USA and Zimbabwe have had more than one polling station: the additional polling stations have been in cities and in institutions other than the official Botswanan diplomatic missions. External registration is normally administered by Botswanan mission staff under the supervision of the IEC. In the 2004 elections many students studying abroad were employed as registration and polling officers. The register of external voters is kept by the head of the mission, who updates it as people come to register.
Normally, external voting takes place two weeks before the general elections at home. The ballot papers are then brought to the IEC within a period of four days after the voting. Upon arrival they are counted and allocated to constituencies on the basis of the voters’ choices in the presence of the candidates and political parties. This means that the results of external voting are known by stakeholders a few days before the main voting takes place, but they are never released before the rest of the results.
There is no postal voting for external voters. Where there are no polling stations, external voters are excluded from the right to vote. The argument is that the numbers involved are too small to justify the cost. However, residents abroad are free to go back to Botswana first to register and later to vote. Many who live in South Africa prefer to use this method.
External voter participation
Botswanan citizens resident outside the country were given the opportunity to exercise their constitutional right to vote for the first time in the 1999 legislative and local elections. The second time they experienced external voting was in 2004. Botswana’s experience with external voting is thus limited to the two most recent successive elections. When external voting was introduced in the 1997 reform, significant numbers of citizens were residing outside the country. Most were working people, migrant workers living in neighbouring South Africa and students studying abroad.
The numbers of eligible voters living abroad have fallen significantly since external voting was introduced. We estimate from the censuses of population that in 2004 a total of 25,450 citizens were living abroad (including those under the age of 18), compared to 38,606 in 1991. Between 1971 and 2004 we estimate that the expatriate population fell by over 20,000. This was a result of the reduced work opportunities in South African mines and other industries beginning from the early 1980s.
Participation in elections by citizens living abroad has not been impressive. In 1999, out of the 1,363 voters registered abroad, only some 23.3 per cent voted, compared to a 77.1 per cent turnout by in-country voters. At the time the IEC had restricted external voting to only six countries where there were sufficiently large concentrations of eligible voters—Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, the UK, the USA and Zimbabwe—and to a total of 24 polling stations in these countries. In an attempt to increase participation, during the 2004 elections the number of countries covered by external voting was increased to 14. The number of polling stations—which were mainly in Botswanan embassies or high commissions abroad and major cities, and institutions of higher learning in the selected countries—also rose, from 24 in 1999 to 44 in 2004. However, the results of both registration and turnout were still below expectations. Out of 2,436 external voters registered, only 49.5 per cent voted. This was still far below the 76.2 per cent voter turnout recorded for the in-country voting population—although the very strong increase since 1999 is worth highlighting. However, with only 2,436 people registering to vote out of an estimated 25,450 citizens living abroad in 2004, the rate of registration may be an even bigger issue than turnout.
External voter participation in the 1999 and 2004 botswana elections
Source: Independent Electoral Commission, Report on the General Election (Gaborone: Government Printer, 2004)
It is clear that the IEC has not been impressed by the level of external voter participation when it is set against the cost involved. The official reports on both the 1999 and the 2004 general elections recommended review of the relevant section of the law on external voting. External voting is likely not to last very long in Botswana, especially because its main advocates—the opposition parties—appear to have become lukewarm about its overall impact on the results. The concern expressed in the official report on the 1999 election was that, while provision for external voting was an important attempt to extend the democratic process, its value had proved disappointingly small that it would need careful review. The official report on the 2004 election expressed the same concern. The IEC feels that, given the scale of the logistical preparations involved, either the provision relating to external voting should be reviewed or more funds should be made available.
The cost of external voting
The IEC does not have a separate budget for external voting. At the time of writing it was still waiting for embassies and high commissions to submit data on the costs of administering the voting in the respective countries. It was therefore not possible to disaggregate the costs of external voting from the total election costs. However, according to the IEC it is clear that its external travel budget and the costs of paying students and others to supervise elections abroad are very high. In the 2004 election the cost of external travel was 647,950 pula (BWP—161,460 US dollars (USD)). This excludes the costs of salaries, administration and supplies. However, the overall cost of the elections had increased only marginally, from 19 million BWP in 1999 to 21 million BWP in 2004.
Conclusion
The prospects for external voting in Botswana are not bright. The IEC has recommended a review of the law in the past with a view to closing this window. The main concerns seem to be the high cost per voter and the low level of participation. The opposition parties, which were the drivers of the external voting process, also appear much less enthusiastic than before about defending the system.
