Voter verification exercise starts

Flagged off. The EC Chairman, Justice Simon Byabakama (right), hands over a flag to Ms Charlotte Kobusingye, a representative of volunteers for the general updates of the national voters register for the 2021 General Election. Photo by Michael Kakumirizi

What you need to know:

  • The EC launched the 2021 election roadmap in December last year and has since carried activities such as stakeholder engagement meetings, voter education outreaches and publicity and recruitment of temporary staff at sub-county and parish level between July and August.

Another round of national voter registration and verification exercise has started with the chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), Justice Simon Byabakama, asking Ugandans to verify their registration before the end of December 11.
“The exercise kicks off today (November 21), so all citizens who intend to register as voters should start today. The update centres are open from today until December 11 [2019],” Justice Byabakama said while inaugurating the exercise at EC headquarters in Kampala yesterday.

“We took into account the fact that some students who are eligible to register as voters will leave school by end of November. That is why we extended this [exercise] to December 11,” he added.
Justice Byabakama said it was imperative for Ugandans willing to vote in the 2021 General Election to participate in the process.
He said EC will deploy 22,630 staff to handle the exercise in 10,011 parishes in the 135 districts contained in the commission’s database.
According to Justice Byabakama, the exercise and the general election will cost Shs32b.

“Democracy is expensive. It is not just a walk in the park. Do we have the money? Of course [we do]. By the time you go to a restaurant, you must have money. So we have the money and that is why we are undertaking this very important exercise,” he said.
The EC chairperson also said students who registered for National Identity cards under the Learners Project in 2017 and have since attained the voting age are eligible to register as voters.
“The details of learners who were registered under the Learners Project in 2017 and have since attained the age of 18 will be updated and assigned a polling station within their parish of residence or origin,” Justice Byabakama said.

Requirements
The exercise, will among other things, require potential voters to check and confirm their intention to participate in the elections.
They will also be required to confirm where they intend to vote from either place of residence or district of origin.
Justice Byabakama said the three weeks will be sufficient and warned that those who do not adhere to the process would risk not voting.

“If in 2021 you approach a polling station, they [polling agents] will not automatically give you the ballot paper. They will first confirm whether your names or particulars are on the register. And if you don’t appear on the register, you will not vote,” he said.
“If you have a national ID but you did not indicate your willingness to vote and from which area to vote from, then you are not on the national voters’ register. You are on the national citizens’ register. So the decision is yours during this update exercise to come forward and show that you want to get on the national voters’ register.”

When asked why the process had not waited for the electoral reforms to be passed by Parliament, Justice Byabakama said: “We cannot wait for the reforms which are not yet in place. There are laws governing every activity we are carrying out now. In any case if you wait, you are creating a crisis for the country. There is no room for adjustment or for postponement because the law does not provide for that.”
As of November 21, there were 16,435,315 voters registered.

Roadmap
The EC launched the 2021 election roadmap in December last year and has since carried activities such as stakeholder engagement meetings, voter education outreaches and publicity and recruitment of temporary staff at sub-county and parish level between July and August.
Activities during the general update exercise include registration of citizens eligible to vote, application for transfer of voting location, confirmation of registration particulars, update of learners’ information for purposes of voting and update of registers of special interest groups.

Electoral statistics

Districts 135
Counties 253
Constituencies 296
Sub-counties/towns/municipal divs 2,057
Parishes 10,011
Villages 68,649
Polling stations 34,236
Registered voters 16,435,315