2004 Botswana general election

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

2004 Botswana general election

← 1999 30 October 2004 2009 →
← outgoing members elected members →
57 of the 63 seats in the National Assembly 29 seats needed for a majority
Registered	552,849
Turnout	76.20% (of registered voters) (0.91pp) 44.00% (of eligible population) (2.02pp)[n 1]
First party Second party Third party   BNF BCP Leader Festus Mogae Otsweletse Moupo Otlaadisa Koosaletse Party BDP BNF BCP Leader's seat None[a] Selebi-Phikwe West (defeated) Lobatse (defeated) Last election 57.15%, 33 seats 25.95%, 6 seats 11.90%, 1 seats 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 5.42pp 0.11pp 4.72pp
Results by constituency
President before election Festus Mogae BDP Elected President Festus Mogae BDP

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.^[1]

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.^[1] 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 focused on unemployment and poverty.^[1] 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.^[1]

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.^[1]

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	+2
Total		412,379	100.00	63	+19
Valid votes		412,379	97.89
Invalid/blank votes		8,893	2.11
Total votes		421,272	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		552,849	76.20
Source: African Elections Database

Notes

1. National Study On Voter Apathy in Botswana (PDF). University of Botswana. IEC Botswana. 2022. p. 17.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)

1. Incumbent presidents are ineligible to contest National Assembly seats; instead, they serve as ex-officio members of Parliament.