EC sued over new voters

The Electoral Commission (EC) has been sued in the High Court for locking out more than one million Ugandans who turned 18 years a few months ago from participating in the 2021 General Election.
In her lawsuit filed in court yesterday, Ms Gloria Linda Nagami, a human rights lawyer, is seeking a court order to have the national voters register reviewed to have this group included.

Ms Nagami states that EC’s conduct of closing the updating of the voters register one year before the General Election amounts to exclusion of persons who have attained 18 years between December 2019 and 2020.
She now wants court to declare EC’s conduct unconstitutional.
When this complaint came up in the public and Parliament in March, the EC said fresh registration of voters would derail the roadmap and create a process that would cause legal challenges.

Many political players have already opposed EC’s proposal to have virtual campaigns in an attempt to minimise the health risks of Covid-19 for electorates.
They have also accused the EC of overstepping its mandate and making orders on matters which should have been decided by Parliament under Article 110 and 79 of the Constitution.