- IEC says availing softcopies of voters’ roll is against the law
- UB don finds IEC behaviour out of step with digital age
GAZETTE REPORTER
The Botswana National Front may mount legal action to force the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to release the digital version of the voters roll to political parties.
This follows a recent letter from the IEC stating its refusal to agree with the BNF request for softcopies of the roll.
In the letter, the Executive Secretary of the IEC, Jefferson Siamisang, said while the BNF had previously been provided with a digital version of the voters’ roll, it was an illegality that can no longer continue.
Hard copies available for a fee
“The Commission’s understanding of the law is that it can only provide a hard copy, not a soft copy, of the roll to anyone, including our stakeholder, the Botswana National Front,” he wrote.
“The hard copy is available at a fee of P1.75 per page of the roll. This is in accordance with Section 16(3) of the Electoral Act, and providing the BNF with a soft copy of the roll as requested would be inconsistent with the said provision.”
Despite acknowledging that the BNF had attached a letter indicating the party had previously received a soft copy of the voters’ roll, the IEC maintained that this earlier action was contrary to the law.
“The Commission is not aware of the reasons why a soft copy was provided in the past, but it does not wish to engage in a similar illegal act,” Siamisang emphasised.
Disbelief
Upon being contacted, the Secretary General of the BNF, Ketlhalefile Motshegwa, said the party is considering legal action against the IEC. “We are in the process of litigating against the decision but cannot say much now,” he said.
Reacting to the position of the IEC recently, Professor Zibani Maundeni of the political science department at the University of Botswana expressed disbelief.
“I do not see any prejudice (that is) likely to be suffered by releasing a digital document whose hard copy is already public,” he said. “This decision defies common sense, especially in today’s digital age and by a government that promotes and encourages digitisation.”