Ultimate electoral reforms are still light years away

The Electoral Commission (EC) has added to the heap of electoral reforms that have been pending for years with a raft of proposals that, among others, could see prisoners and Ugandans living abroad cast the ballot starting with the 2026 general elections.

Disenfranchised from exercising their civic duty in the last six general elections, prisoners and the Diaspora can finally smile that they can get to add their decision on a presidential election. But getting these blocs to vote, like other proposals such spending caps and checkmarks on technology, are cosmetic – according to the Opposition.

We agree. Uganda’s recent electoral history has been synonymous with alarm bells whose eerie sound has been getting louder and creepier with each election. At the centre of this has been two things.

One, the military and its interference. The proposed EC reforms do not address the issue of the direct involvement of Police and the UPDF in the electoral process yet every election has the armed forces exerting their muzzle – often with tragic effect.

To carry out electoral reforms while looking aside and pretending not to see how the baton-wielding and gun-toting men are impacting the outcomes of elections is a mockery of the essence of the reforms. Yes, it takes one step at a time to get to the ideal democracy but the current state of affairs makes ours look more like the proverbial sugar candy mountain.

Two, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin has widely been quoted as saying, “I consider it completely unimportant who in the party will vote, or how; but what is extraordinarily important is this – who will count the votes, and how.”

The attributions are from 1923. Although it is widely considered apocryphal, it remains poignant and dangerously pregnant in modern pseudo-democracy.

With the military actively deployed during elections and often seen to engage in violently suppressing persons exercising their civic rights during elections, it remains a far cry to celebrate the rights of prisoners and the Diaspora community in the polls.

The ultimate reform is not one that brings in more voting blocs or peppers around on a plethora of issues, but that which will take the nation one step toward ending rigging and shoring up the authenticity and legitimacy of the final outcome.

Our kudos to the EC and every other entity pushing for electoral reforms. However, it is time to put the issue of the final outcome of the vote at the forefront of every reform being proposed because that is the purpose for the reforms anyway.

[email protected]