The Electoral Commission has launched a nationwide mass campaign for voter education ahead of the National Voter Register display. The Commission also released a schedule for nationwide display of National Voters’ Register and Registers for Special Interest Groups.
The campaign according to the Commission is the last chance for voters to confirm their eligibility to participate in the 2021 general elections. The launch was conducted at the EC National Headquarters in Kampala, on Monday.
During the launch, it was communicated that the Commission has also appointed 19th February – 10th March 2020, as the period for the display of National Voters’ Registers, and 19th – 28th February 2020 as period for display of registers for Special Interest Groups. The exercise shall begin from 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM throughout the period.
According to the EC Chairperson Justice Simon Byabakama, the purpose of the display exercise is to enable voters to check the correctness of their particulars on the voters’ register, confirm that their photographs appear against correct particulars on the register, and raise objections to the inclusion or removal of a voter’s particulars from the register.
He also said, the display will enable voters report persons who have died underage, or non-residents to the display officer for removal. During that period, persons who appear more than once on the voters’ register will also be deleted.
During the same period, Electoral Commission will display lists of persons who were recommended for deletion from the National Voters’ Register during the Exercise which was conducted at village level in October 2019. The exercise according to Byabakama will be an opportunity for eligible voters who applied but their particulars are missing from the National Voters’ Register, to seek to be included on the register.
Byabakama urged the public to carefully note that the display exercise is important since it could determine whether one will vote on polling day, or not. He however noted that fresh application for registration as a voter, or application for transfer to another voting location shall not be accepted during the display exercise.
The EC Display officers will be physically stationed at respective polling stations throughout the entire display period to enable voters conveniently locate their polling station, especially those who might have been affected by the exercise of reorganization of polling station.
It was also noted that for Special Interest Groups, the display officers shall be stationed at a display centre in each village through the entire period. However, their registers will be displayed for a shorter period because elections for their representatives will be conducted earlier than all others.