Court Halts Kassanda South Vote Recount Over Missing Ballot Seal Records

What the report says

The High Court in Mubende has stopped a planned recount in the Kassanda South parliamentary election petition after the parties did not produce records showing the seals used on ballot boxes. According to Nile Post, Justice Mary Babirye paused the exercise when the court found that the documentation needed to verify the seals was not available at the hearing.

The dispute unfolded as the ballot boxes were brought to court under heavy security, with police saying the deployment was based on intelligence that some people might try to disrupt proceedings. The hearing drew lawyers for NRM candidate Hajj Abdul Bisaso, independent candidate Eria Mubiru and the Electoral Commission, who disagreed over whether the recount could continue without the seal records. Bisaso’s legal team said the court had earlier directed that the seal records be produced before any recount began.

After giving the parties a short period to present the documents, the judge halted the recount when the required records were still not produced. Bisaso and his lawyer welcomed the ruling, while Mubiru’s lawyer said the missing documentation raised concerns about the integrity of the ballot boxes. The Electoral Commission lawyer said the relevant details were already contained in the commission’s report.

The case matters because recounts in election petitions depend on clear custody records for ballot materials, which help courts assess whether the vote count and handling of evidence were reliable.