UDC boycotts EVM demonstration
Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) will not attend an Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) demonstration session scheduled for tomorrow (Thursday) at Fairground Holdings in Gaborone by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).
A press statement from the government says that alongside a team of experts from the Bharat Electronics Limited, the IEC will conduct a demonstration session on how EVMs with a Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail system work. The statement extended an invitation to political parties, Information Technology experts, political analysts, academics, media as well as civil society to attend.
UDC Head of Communications Moeti Mohwasa said they would not attend the meeting because this is already a compromised situation. He said one of the contracting members of UDC, Botswana Congress Party (BCP), has filed a case regarding EVMs and the courts must be allowed to deal with the matter.
“As the opposition block, we would not attend such a compromised gathering. We have to respect the courts and it is our belief that government should be leading as an example in respecting our judiciary. The excuse that is being used for introducing the EVM cannot be sustained. We have always maintained that if the IEC wants to have election results released early, the first thing to consider is to have ballots verified and counted at polling stations,” said Mohwasa.
The UDC spokesperson stated that as opposition they have always maintained that elections in Botswana are free but not fair. Mohwasa said the use of the EVM during elections would make things worse. He stated that government has rendered All Party Conference defunct. “This is the platform where we could be discussing these issues and coming up with a tangible solution,” said Mohwasa, further accusing Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) led government of killing democracy in the country. The press statement stated that the session will offer an opportunity for those with the know-how to disrupt, hack and compromise the secure performance of EVMs to do so.