EC releases new key statistics ahead of 2026

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The new number, however, does not include the three districts and one city that President Museveni approved for creation out of Tororo District.
Data also showed an increase in the number of counties, leapfrogging from 257 as of the 2020/2021 statistics to 312 after the creation of 55 new counties countrywide.

The Electoral Commission has released key statistics, with the increase in administrative units and electoral areas in the country as one of the main milestones in the electoral body's strategic plan.

EC officials said that the increase has come after the long process of organising electoral areas and administrative units, which lasted over a year as they created new polling stations, districts, sub-counties, counties, and villages.
The new figures released by the EC show an increase in the number of districts and cities from 135 as of the 2021 elections to 146. The new number, however, does not include the three districts and one city that President Museveni approved for creation out of Tororo District.

“We have not been formally informed about this creation from the relevant authorities, and that means we are going with the figure that we found on the ground while we were in the process of demarcating electoral areas,” Justice Simon Byabakama, the EC chairman, said.

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Data also showed an increase in the number of counties, leapfrogging from 257 as of the 2020/2021 statistics to 312 after the creation of 55 new counties countrywide. The commission also created 57 more constituencies, as the total number increased from 296 to 353 by 2025.
In 2020, there were 2,062 sub-counties in the country and the EC now found that there are 2191, while the parishes grew from 10,029 as of 2020 to 10,716, a tremendous increase of 687 new areas.

The number of villages also increased by 2,475 new villages across the country as the number sprang to 71,208 as of 2025 from 68, 733 in 2020. The polling stations also grew 38, 315 in 2025 from 34, 344 in 2020.
These new statistics, according to electoral commission officials, sit well with their projections that were included in the strategic plan that was released about two years ago, detailing the general roadmap towards the 2026 elections.

Other increments

Statistics from the electoral commission documents showed that the number of electoral areas increased from 13,997 in 2006 to 45,965 in 2021, and the number of elective positions also increased from 750,568 in 2006 to 1,612,295 in 2021.
New figures show that there is already an increase in the electoral areas as projected in the strategic plan from 1.6m to more than two million.

“What I can say is that Uganda Electoral Commission has undergone a revolution of technological advancements in systems with the aim of achieving result contentment in executing free and fair elections in the country. The push for continuous improvement in technology is a result of the complexity of data management as more and more people get involved in the electoral activities,” Mr Julius Mucunguzi, the EC spokesperson, said in an interview for this story, explaining the rising numbers of electoral areas.

The EC released the new statistics as they announced the kick-off of the protracted display of the national voters’ register at all polling stations after they pushed the programme by a week, citing normal preparation measures.

Officials, however, said that due to unavoidable circumstances, some 620 polling stations which represent about 1.6 per cent of the total number of polling stations in the country, from different districts across the country would not be able to view their particulars on the national voters’ register as of Friday, and that a later date would be communicated.
"Technical issues that emerged during the production of the segregated data voter registers were not printed together with the others, and I would like to inform Ugandans that these polling stations were not deliberately left out, it was a glitch and it is being sorted out," Justice Byabakama.

The districts that missed out on the viewing of the national voters’ register as the exercise kicked off last Friday include: Arua City with two polling stations, Buikwe with one, and Buvuma also with one. Fort Portal has three polling stations with missing registers, Kampala has 18, Kasanda two and Kikuube 15.

The other districts are: Kiryandongo with 78 polling stations with missing registers, Kitagwenda one, Masaka city two, Mbarara city 48, and Mityana, which has 378, the highest number of polling stations with missing registers, while Mpigi has 46, Mukono 32 and Wakiso 13.
Justice Byabakama said, “When their issue is fixed, the people in these districts will also be given the mandatory 21 days as provided for by the Electoral Commission's Act, to check their particulars in the register and make the necessary changes if any.”

On why this exercise is important, EC officials say, it gives opportunity to voters to correct their names, photographs and any changes. It also helps to identify the dead to be removed, people under the voting age of 18 years if they may appear, those who have shifted or don't belong in the parish and voters who may appear more than once.

“It will also help us harmonise with the lists of citizens of voting age who were verified and registered by NIRA (National Registration Identification Authority) but did not indicate their preferred polling stations, so they can verify their particulars and be added to the registers,” Byabakama said.

According to the Electoral Commission's Act, persons who are recommended for inclusion or exclusion from the National Voters’ Register have a supplementary register display at the district tribunal for 10 days, and it is scheduled to take place between May 17 and 27 May, 2025. This would help, according to the law, people to amend what could have been misrepresented during the general voter verification exercise.
The tribunal is constituted by a judge, two elders, and three other members who can be recommended by political parties.

Mr Mucunguzi said, “There will be a final mop up of the national voters’ register after all this exercise is done by the EC when the findings are sent to the headquarters. That is when a final figure of the number of registered voters will be announced ahead of the coming elections.”

New statistics