Voters in panic as EC deletes polling stations in Masaka

Masaka, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | At least 950 voters in three cells in the Nyendo-Mukungwe division in Masaka City are in panic over the mysterious deletion of their polling stations from the Electoral Commission’s registers.

The affected voters are residents of Kinsadde, Bujja-Njeru located in Nyendo ward and Kitovu Hospital gate cell in Ssenyange ward. For a long time, they have been casting their voters at Polly and Paul Primary School and Kitovu Hospital gate polling stations, which are located in the proximity of their villages.

However, in the ongoing national voters register update exercise, the voters in the three villages were displaced after their two polling stations did not appear on the Electoral Commission’s roll that was sent out.

Charles Kimbugwe, the L.C1 Chairperson of the Kissadde cell, who is among the affected voters, indicates that they are currently puzzled because their polling stations are not traceable on the Electoral Commission’s registers.

He accuses the Electoral Commission of ambiguously removing polling stations of villages that have existed for a long time, arguing that many voters in affected areas are likely to be disenfranchised from exercising their rights in the next elections.

According to Kimbugwe, some of the voters in the affected villages were instead scattered in various polling stations far away from their homes, and they suspect that there could be ulterior motives behind the displacement.

“The few people who have managed to find their names are captured in polling stations that are located in a distance of over 6 kilometres from the original voting centres, but still there are those whose names have not been traced anywhere,” he says.

Kimbugwe has criticized the Electoral Commission for effecting changes without the knowledge of local leaders to inform the concerned voters.

According to the Electoral Commission’s 2021 register, the two affected polling stations, Molly and Paul Primary School and Kitovu Hospital Gate, had 357 and 467 registered voters, respectively.

Burahane Kasozi, the Chairperson of Mukudde L.C 1 has also blamed the Commission for redistributing some of the affected voters to a polling station in his area, yet it is already congested.

He has challenged the Electoral Commission to reinstate the affected polling stations on the registers, to avoid interfering with the election process.

Apollo Musinguzi, the Greater Masaka Regional Electoral Commission Supervisor indicates that the deletion was a result of their internal systems error.

He says, now that the error has been brought to their attention, the commission is going to look into to have it rectified.

He indicates that the Electoral Commission is currently examining all complaints formally raised about the voters’ register update exercise to ensure clean registers.  On Monday, the Electoral Commission extended the voter registers update for another seven days after the exercise was not completed in the 20 days that had initially been set aside for it.

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