Electoral Commission Seeks Legal Reforms to Allow Prisoners to Vote

What the report says

Nile Post reports that Uganda’s Electoral Commission is asking for constitutional and electoral law changes before it can arrange voting for prisoners. The commission’s chairperson, Justice Simon Byabakama, said during a media briefing in Kampala that although a court has affirmed inmates’ right to vote, the ruling did not set out the practical process for conducting elections inside prisons.

Byabakama said Parliament would need to provide a clear legal basis and align electoral rules with laws governing prison facilities before the commission can implement prisoner voting. The issue has resurfaced as Uganda prepares to hold Local Council I elections, a village-level vote that uses a public lining-up system rather than secret ballots.

According to the report, the commission said preparations for the LCI polls have been completed in 71,214 villages, with election materials dispatched, polling officials assigned and voters’ registers ready. Verification of voters is scheduled for 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., followed by voting from 11:00 a.m., with eligible voters lining up behind their preferred candidates.

The EC also said there would be no separate voting arrangements for elderly voters, pregnant women or persons with disabilities because the law requires the same lining-up method for all eligible participants. Byabakama warned against intimidation, violence or disruption during the polls, and linked some incidents in recent Women Councils elections to candidates allegedly mobilising supporters to interfere with the process. The proposed prisoner-voting reforms matter because they would determine whether a recognised right can be practically exercised within Uganda’s election system.