The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has not reached its target of 1.3 million registrations for the 2024 voter registration, with only 736,424 individuals registering for the upcoming elections, which accounts for 57 percent of the target.

According to Phatodi Nacana, the Principal Public Relations Officer, the eligible voters for the 2024 general election are estimated at 1.7 million. However, the IEC aimed for 1.3 million registrations during the voter registration period, which ended on February 3, 2024.

Nacana stated that they haven't confirmed whether there will be a supplementary voter registration for those who haven't yet expressed their intention to vote in October. The Commission is yet to convene and decide on supplementary exercises, taking into account various factors, including the timeframe.

In 2018, after a general registration period of two and a half months, over 747,000 Batswana registered to vote. Following two supplementary voter registration exercises, a total of 925,478 people were registered for the 2019 elections. Nacana also confirmed that out of these, 777,943 individuals cast their votes on election day in 2019.

Nacana highlighted that the current voter registration achieved over 736,000 registrations within just one month, which is comparable to the registration numbers achieved after two and a half months in 2018.

During the voter registration period that ended last Saturday, the numbers increased gradually. By the end of the first week (January 5 to 7), a total of 87,696 people had registered, including those outside the country. By the end of the second week, the number rose to 229,901 across 61 constituencies, including external registrations. In the third week (January 13 to 19), 344,905 people registered to vote. By the end of the fourth week (January 20 to 26), the number increased to 453,608, and by the end of the fifth week, a cumulative total of 736,424 individuals had registered.

Various reasons have been cited for the slow registration process. Some Batswana prefer to cast their votes in their home villages rather than in urban areas, so they were waiting to travel for registration. Others are uncertain about the candidates in their preferred political parties, especially those that haven't held primary elections.

The Goodhope-Mathethe constituency has the highest number of registered voters, with over 25,000 individuals registered to vote in October, followed by Nkange with 21,146. On the other hand, Selibe Phikwe East has the fewest registered potential voters with 5,929, followed by Francistown East with 7,266.