Court Finds 22 Polling Stations Excluded from Ruhindi’s Tally but Upholds Victory

What the report says

A Ugandan High Court has ruled that the Electoral Commission failed to include results from 22 polling stations in the Nakawa East parliamentary election tally, but said the omission did not materially change the result. The decision was delivered by Justice Allan Nshimye in a petition brought by National Unity Platform deputy spokesperson Waiswa Mufumbiro against the election of National Resistance Movement candidate Fredric Ruhindi.

According to the court record summarized by Nile Post, the excluded stations were identified through declaration of results forms and tally sheets presented by both sides. The judge found that the commission’s failure to add those figures amounted to non-compliance with provisions of the Parliamentary Elections Act. He said such an omission can, in principle, be a ground for nullifying an election, but only if it substantially affects the outcome.

The court then applied the known vote totals from the affected stations. Mufumbiro received more votes than Ruhindi in those polling stations, which reduced Ruhindi’s winning margin, but not enough to overturn the final result. The ruling therefore dismissed the petition on this ground and upheld Ruhindi’s victory as MP for Nakawa East.

The case is significant because it highlights the legal distinction between an election irregularity and an irregularity serious enough to change the winner. In general, election courts often assess whether mistakes in tallying or administration affected the overall result before deciding whether to order a fresh poll.