Parliamentary Election, 30 October 2024

On 30 October 2024, Botswana held elections for its 65-member National Assembly. Members serve five-year terms – 57 are elected, by single-seat constituencies through plurality vote; six are nominated by the President; and the President and the Speaker are the remaining two members (IFES n.d). National elections are administered by the Independent Electoral Commission of Botswana (IEC n.d.).

Voter registration, due to start on 1 November 2023, was postponed and later suspended as the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) party was granted an interim High Court order to prevent the IEC from excluding UDC officials from the process (SABC 2023a; SABC  2023b). The UDC wanted to deploy party agents of its Madibela Tlhopho (anti- vote-rigging) to observe –  something not provided for in the Electoral Act. Madibela Tlhopho had previously been accused of violating the Electoral Act and intimidating journalists during a 2023 by-election. The UDC insisted it was law-abiding (C. Dube 2023) but the dispute was later settled by the Court of Appeal, in favour of the IEC. Voter registration took place between 5 January and 3 February 2024 (Kaelo 2024).

Two weeks before the polls, the IEC issued a warning against disinformation about claims of rigged polls. The allegations were that the voter register included names of deceased voters, which the IEC stated was false. Despite this, a UDC spokesperson claimed that his party knew about plans to rig the elections and insisted that the IEC had collaborated with Zimbabwean authorities to do so (M. Dube 2024). While the IEC did visit the Zimbabwean Election Commission in February 2024, they stated that it was a learning visit on observer accreditation conducted through the Electoral Commissions Forum of SADC Southern African Development Community countries (ECF-SADC) (Africa Press 2024).

SADC deployed an election observation mission(EOM). This noted concerns among stakeholders regarding the use of social media and the potential threat of mis- and disinformation in electoral messages. The market dominance of state-owned Botswana Television since the previous election in 2019 was also a concern(SADC 2024), as was  ballot counting being organized in locations other than the polling stations. However, the counting centres were open for observers and party agents (M. Dube 2024; SADC 2024) and the EOM reported that campaigning, voting and immediate post-electoral stages were peaceful.

Some 80 per cent of the target voter registration was achieved. The IEC explained that it had experienced financial challenges and registration had to be conducted twice (SADC 2024). 

Of the 263 parliamentary candidates only 10.6 per cent, were female, a small share compared to the 54 per cent of registered voters. However, it did represent an increase compared to the 2019 election when just five per cent of candidates were women (SADC 2024). Despite more female candidates, women's representation in parliament did not increase. In 2024, 6 out of 69 (8.7%) National Assembly members were women, compared to 7 out of 65 (10.8%) in 2019. According to the women's rights organization Make Every Woman Count (MEWC), gender-based violence—such as sexist remarks, harassment and intimidation—was a significant barrier discouraging women from running for office (MEWC 2024).

The UDC with its presidential candidate Duma Boko was elected, ending 58 years of continuous rule by the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP). The incumbents were in fourth place, according to the IEC’s initial tallies, impacted by economic and demographic changes including a rise in youth undemployment (Al Jazeera 2024; Benza 2024). 

Voter turnout was 82.42 per cent, a slight decrease from the 2019 election which had a turnout of 83.51 per cent (International IDEA n.d.).