Gaborone — About 725,000 Batswana went to the poll today, Friday 16th October 2009 to elect council officers and members of parliament for 57 seats in parliament.

Members of parliament will then have the duty and responsibility to appoint the president of Botswana. Strong indications point to President Lieutenant -General, Seretse Khama Ian Khama of the Botswana Democratic Party getting back into office until 2014.

Seven political parties and 15 independent candidates are contesting the country's 57 constituencies, however the main race is between the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), the Botswana National Front (BNF) and the Botswana Congress Party (BCP).

The BDP's stake of the popular vote has been steadily declining in recent years, but under the first-past-the-post electoral system it has held its parliamentary majority with 44 seats after 2004 elections.

Speaking to African Elections Project, Mr. Mpho Maifalane, spokesperson of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) of Botswana  said  polling is expected to officially close at 19 hours Central Africa time but as the electoral law stipulates, voting can continue until the final voters in the queue casts their ballots.

A number of polling stations are still open with voters wating in line to cast their votes after the official closing, according to African Elections Project reporters.

Mr. Maifalane indicated that final results are expected to start trickling in before midnight and in order to facilitate easy contact between the IEC and stakeholders such the media, civil society, observers and political parties among others, the IEC has set up a contact centre at BOIPUSO HALL; popularly known as fair grounds to serve at the venue for the official announcement of results declared at over 2,800 polling centres spread across 57 constituencies in Botswana.

After the final results are declared at the polling stations, they are transmitted to 490 polling districts for onward transmission to national head office of IEC based in Gaborone via the use of fax.

According to the The Independent Electoral Commission spokesperson, overall the voting phase of the elections was successful with no hiccups reported so far.