GABORONE, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- Voting started in Botswana in the early hours of Wednesday as the country prepares to usher in a new government.
With candidates having stopped their campaign on Tuesday night, it is now all up to the voters to decide for whom they are voting to represent them in council and parliament for the next term of five years.
Speaking to Xinhua in Gaborone, Osupile Maroba, the spokesperson of the Independent Electoral Commission Botswana, said voting has started and was going smoothly countrywide.
He said they had not received any reports of disturbances from anywhere and expected it will remain calm throughout.
Maroba said all supporting stuff including the law enforcement officers are on standby countrywide to attend to any issues that may arise.
He also said election observers from different international observer missions including the African Union, Southern Africa Development Community are stationed across the country to make their observations.
He said they are expecting to have smooth elections as Botswana has always done in the past. Meanwhile voters were advised to exercise patience, especially in densely populated areas where there are many voters and long queues are expected to ensure.
Maroba said they expect all polling stations to close at the scheduled time of 7 p.m. but will make provisions to extend the times to ensure everyone had cast their vote.
Counting of ballots will start immediately following the closure of voting with results to be announced intermittently as they come in after verification by the designated officers.
Without direct election of the President, the party that garners more parliamentary seats from the 57 constituencies will be declared the outright winner and the party president being sworn in as President following endorsement by parliament. Enditem
