Prior to General Elections, the President dissolves Parliament in accordance with provisions of the Constitution of Botswana and issues a Writ of Election for each Constituency. The dissolution of Parliament declares vacancies of the number of seats in the National Assembly which have to be filled by an election. The Minister responsible for the Local Authority simultaneously issues Election Instruments for each Polling District. Nomination of candidates follow the occurrence of vacancies of elected members in the National Assembly or Local Authority.
The Writs of Election and Election Instruments state the date, time and place of taking of nominations for prospective candidates. Candidates may represent a political party or register as an independent candidate and they must meet the minimum requirement as set by the Constitution, Electoral Act and Local Government Act to qualify as a candidate.
Candidates are required to pay a nomination deposit of BWP1000 and BWP200 for Parliamentary and Local Government elections respectively. Validly nominated candidates proceed to contest elections in the Constituency or Polling District they are nominated for.