Vote rigging tricks revealed to polling agents in Wakiso

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Candidates and their agents have identified a number of ways through which they allege that rigging may be done.

In a training for some polling agents in Wakiso district, the chief facilitator Godfrey Mpagi said that the ways through which the voting exercise is rigged include, ballot stuffing and giving out ballot papers to voters not registered at a particular polling station.

Mpagi adds that some voters go to polling stations with similar signals which they wave to officials from the electoral commission and are given more than one ballot paper. He has urged the polling agents to be vigilant and more careful about voters who behave in strange manners at polling stations.

He says that sometimes some polling assistants pre-tick a ballot paper in favor of a given candidate before issuing it to a voter and when the voter ticks a candidate of his or her choice, it becomes invalid.

However, Wakiso returning officer Tolbert Musinguzi has ruled out any possibility of any form of vote rigging saying that the exercise is designed to be carried out in the open. He requests those who still doubt the transparency of the electoral commission to have faith and confidence that the results will be credible and acceptable by everyone.

On fears that some voters may be given more than one ballot paper, Musinguzi said that the setup of a particular polling station cannot allow such to take place.

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