31 Jul 2014

The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has expressed worries about first time voters who fall prey to desperate politicians during election campaigns.


The IEC principal elections officer in the South East district, Ms Tiny Sethatho-Job said this during a youth stakeholders’ workshop in Otse.

She said as the election date draws near and campaigns heats up, more youth would be lured by politicians to their sides, saying that the exercise is sometimes not based on honesty.


Ms Sethato-Job said when politicians get desperate, they ride on the ignorance of the voters especially first time voters and sometimes politicians would even make voters trespass laws governing the elections.

For instance, she pointed out that politicians would sway the minds of the young voters to transfer from their initial point of registration to that which suit the politicians. However, she warned them that voter trafficking is an offence which can disqualify a candidate from participating in the elections.


Ms Sethato-Job said although politicians facilitate voter trafficking, they are not prosecuted for such act under the current legislation.


Thus, the sole blame would remain with those who have been trafficked.  She said that in the South East district there are already 67 cases of objections registered with the IEC office.


She said some of the potential voters have already appeared before the courts of law to defend why they should not face the repercussions of registering for elections outside their principal place of residence as stipulated by the law. Further, Ms Sethato-Job pointed out that youth are often engaged by politicians in larger numbers because they make the bulk of the potential voters.


Henceforth, she said onus is on the potential voters to equip themselves with the laws governing the election processes if they are to safeguard their interests.

Ms Sethato-Job made a plea to first time voters to assess politicians before voting them and she also encouraged them to vote for people who they believe can best represent them.

During comments, the attendees complained that some politicians cannot be trusted as they change party affiliations without engaging voters who voted for them.

Hence, the attendees opined that floor crossing should be outlawed as it contributes to voter apathy.
Others commended the IEC for having found time to invite the youth from various non-governmental organisations and churches to engage them on matters of elections.
 ENDS