Mega Fm & Agency
The Electoral Commission (EC) has announced fresh polling in 1,135 villages across Uganda after violence, destruction of election materials and disputes over voters’ registers disrupted the long-awaited Local Council One (LC1) elections held on Tuesday.
Addressing journalists on Wednesday afternoon, Electoral Commission Chairperson Justice Simon Byabakama Mugenyi said voting was successfully concluded in 70,079 of Uganda’s 71,214 villages, representing a 98.4 per cent success rate.
However, polling failed to conclude in 1,135 villages due to incidents including violence, interference by residents, destruction of voters’ registers, disputes over the village registers and complaints of missing names on the registers.
“Generally, residents turned up in large numbers and the electoral process was peaceful, orderly and transparent,” Byabakama said, while acknowledging that “some of the scenes witnessed during yesterday’s LC1 elections were ugly.”
He noted that in some villages, election officials allowed residents whose names were missing from the voters’ registers to cast their ballots after presenting national identification cards. He clarified that the practice was not authorised by the Electoral Commission.
According to the Commission, some of the affected villages have already held repeat polls on Wednesday, while others will vote after the Commission completes the resolution of outstanding disputes.
To address the disruptions, the Commission announced several measures for the affected villages.
Justice Byabakama said that fresh voter registration will begin tomorrow, Thursday, July 30, 2026, in villages where the voters’ registers were destroyed during Tuesday’s violence. Polling in those villages will then be conducted on Saturday, August 1.
He added that for villages where the registers remain intact despite the disruptions, repeat polling will also be held on Saturday, August 1.
The Commission also announced special arrangements for villages affected by the death of nominated candidates. Where the only nominated candidate died before polling, fresh nominations will be conducted on Thursday, followed by voting on the same day. In villages where one candidate died but other candidates remain, the surviving candidates will continue in the race.
Byabakama said the Commission has already received numerous petitions arising from the LC1 elections and will handle them in accordance with the law. He, however, didn’t disclose the number of complaints received by the Commission.
He also revealed that the Commission had received reports suggesting that some electoral officials may have colluded with individuals to manipulate election outcomes.
The allegations, he said, will be investigated as the Commission seeks to safeguard the integrity of the electoral process.
He warned residents against engaging in violence during the remaining electoral activities, urging communities to allow the Commission to complete the process peacefully.
The LC1 elections, the first to be conducted nationwide since 2018, attracted unusually high voter turnout as residents elected village chairpersons, the lowest elected leaders in Uganda’s local government system.
The elections were conducted by lining up behind candidates, in accordance with the Local Governments Act.
Despite the disruptions in some areas, the Electoral Commission said the overall outcome demonstrated strong public participation and reaffirmed its commitment to completing the exercise in all affected villages.
