This article attempts to analyse the trends and patterns relating to the past eight general
elections in Botswana, from the pre-independence period in 1965 to 1999. Factors that have
influenced elections in the last eight years will be discussed, and trends established for the same
period.
Data from various past election reports and analysis carried out by other researchers will
be referred to in this article. The data used will be derived from; the total number of potential
voters in Botswana; the number of electorate who registered for the elections and the number
who actually voted. Percentages of the electorate who registered and actually voted, the ratio of
electorate who voted to potential voters, and the ratio of voted to registered voters will be
discussed. The electoral trend of percentage of voters by party and by number, and percentages
of national assembly seats by political parties that contested in the last eight general elections
will be studied.
A summary and conclusions on these factors and lessons to be learned from the
experiences of the past eight elections will be included. These experiences will be beneficial to
all the political parties in the country, and the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) in particular,
which has won the 1999 general elections with an overwhelming victory. The BDP government
and political parties should learn from the past experiences, and develop an improved and
effective performance for the government.