Last week on August 28, 2019, the Electoral Commission (EC) held a press conference intended to launch the reorganisation program of polling stations ahead of the 2021 general elections. The program kicked off this week on Monday September 2, and will go on up to 14 September.
EC Chairman Justice Simon Byabakama said that the Commission is planning to have 35000 polling stations around the country come 2021, and went on to elaborate the guidelines they are going to follow to achieve this.
- Every parish/ward or electoral area must have at least one polling station. This is to prevent voters from walking long distances to vote which might discourage voters from voting.
- In the process of creating a polling station in an area, residents and stakeholders in that area must recommend and agree on its location.
- To avoid crowded polling stations and allow voters exercise their voting right in convenience, each polling station should have between 900 to 1000 voters.
- Due to changes in demographics like increased population, construction of permanent structures like roads, power stations and settlements in locations that had polling stations in 2016 general elections, new polling stations may be created in these areas or moved to other locations as deemed necessary by the Commission.
This exercise will run on a budget of between Shs9 – 10 billion according to the EC Accounts Officer Sam Asiimwe Rwakoojo.
