Opinion polls in Botswana

Abstract

Opinion polls are a relatively new phenomenon in Botswana but nonetheless a welcome development as they inform both the candidates and the campaigners on pertinent issues facing the electorate. Opinion polls becomes more visible and more discussed during every general election in Botswana. Unlike developed countries where poll taking begins more than a year before an election and continues until the last few hours of the election night, polls here have been conducted at one time only during election years. Due to financial and logistical constraints they are not conducted at times when there are issues of public and national concern. Most of the polls so far polls have been conducted by the Democracy Research Project of the University of Botswana. However, as Bogart puts it 'the fundamental prmclple of statistical sampling, the basis for polling, seems hard for many people to understand'.