The impact of education level, age and ICT on voting patterns in Botswana

Abstract

This study sought to assess and examine how a citizen’s level of education, age and social media use impacts voting and voting patterns in the context of Botswana. The study also intended to find out the extent to which Independent Electoral Commission embarks on voter education in order to find out if it was indeed delivering on its mandate. Purposive sampling was used in order to obtain a working sample of 51 respondents from the population with semi-structured questionnaires being administered to the respective respondents. A positive impact of education on voting was found which was indicative of a sense of civic duty. Moreover a higher youth voter turnout was reported, and the respondents concurred with the importance of social media in influencing how an individual votes, as well as its potential to improve voting and elections, more specifically, voter education.