In October 2014, Botswana organized its 11th General Elections (Presidential30, Parliamentary31 and local32) and only four (4) out of the fifteen (15) recognized political parties participated. A large number of independent candidates also participated in the Parliamentary33 and Local Government elections34 In line of the Out of the 825,582 registered voters for the 2014 General Elections, 698,409 voters cast their vote. This represents a voter turnout of 84.6%. The results of the three (3) political parties and the twenty-nine independent candidates who contested the National Assembly elections were as appear in the table below: Party Botswana Congress Party Botswana Democratic Party Umbrella for Democratic Change Independent candidates TOTAL Seats won 3 37 17 0 57 Votes received 140.998 (20.43%) 320.647 (46.45%) 207.113 (30.01%) 21.484 (3.11%) 690.242 For the local government elections, four political parties and 254 independent candidates contested and their results were as shown in the tables below: “Three Polling Districts went for fresh elections as a result of equality of votes among the leading candidates” Party Botswana Congress Party Botswana Democratic party Umbrella for democratic Change MELS Movement of Botswana Independent candidates TOTAL Seats won 57 310 116 0 4 487 Votes received 148.201 312.550 184.852 39 36.004 681.487 Party performance by administrative District District Council BCP BDP UDC MELS Ind. TOTAL 303030 Three parties, the Botswana Congress Party, the Botswana Democratic Party and the Umbrella for Democratic Change nominated candidates for the presidential election. 31 The Botswana Congress Party, the Botswana Democratic Party and the Umbrella for Democratic Change also represented the political parties to the parliamentary nominations. 32 The Botswana Congress Party, the Botswana Democratic Party, the MELS Movement of Botswana and the Umbrella for Democratic Change participated to the nominations. 33 Twenty-nine (29) candidates. 34 Two hundred and fifty-four candidates. 48 | P a g e