2004 Botswana general election

2004 Botswana general election

30 October 2004 (2004-10-30)
57 of the 63 seats to the National Assembly
First party Second party Third party   BNF BCP Leader Festus Mogae Otsweletse Moupo Otlaadisa Koosaletse Party BDP BNF BCP Leader since 1 April 1998 2001 Leader's seat not running Selibe Phikwe West Lobatse Last election 33 seats, 57.15% 6 seats, 25.95% 1 seats, 11.90% Seats won 44 12 1 Seat change 11 6 0 Popular vote 213,308 107,451 68,556 Percentage 51.73% 26.06% 16.62% Swing 5.42% 0.11% 4.72%
President before election Festus Mogae BDP Elected President Festus Mogae BDP

General elections were held in Botswana on 30 October 2004, alongside local elections. The result was a ninth straight victory for the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), which won 44 of the 57 seats in the National Assembly.

Background

The Independent Electoral Commission had a campaign to encourage voter registration, with a target of registering at 500,000 voters. Although it achieved its target, registering around 61% of the estimated 900,000 voting-age population, the opposition Botswana National Front (BNF) accused it of making errors in the registration process.

Campaign

For the first time, the election campaign involved parties using billboards. However, the opposition claimed that their media access was restricted, and a study by the Media Institute of Southern Africa showed that the BDP had received over 50% of the election coverage. The BDP campaigned on promises to improve training, expand electricity and water supplies and amend laws that discriminated against women. The campaign of the opposition parties focussed on unemployment and poverty. However, although the BNF, Botswana Alliance Movement (BAM) and Botswana People's Party (BPP), entered into an electoral pact agreement in 2003, their campaigns were marked by open personal attacks between them and their leaders.

Fifty-six of the 57 constituencies were contested, with Vice President Ian Khama unopposed in the Serowe North constituency.

Conduct

For the first time, international monitors were able to observe the elections, with delegations from the Southern African Development Community, the African Union, the Commonwealth and the United Nations in attendance. There were 11,000 personnel from the Independent Electoral Commission involved in running the elections.

Results

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/–
Botswana Democratic Party	213,308	51.73	44	+11
Botswana National Front	107,451	26.06	12	+6
Botswana Congress Party	68,556	16.62	1	0
Botswana Alliance Movement	11,716	2.84	0	0
Botswana People's Party	7,886	1.91	0	New
New Democratic Front	3,237	0.78	0	New
MELS Movement of Botswana	121	0.03	0	0
Independents	104	0.03	0	0
Indirectly-elected seats	–	–	6	–
Invalid/blank votes	8,893	–	–	–
Total	421,272	100	63	+19
Registered voters/turnout	555,849	76.20	–	–
Source: African Elections Database