The Electoral Commission has started giving presidential candidates the final printed version of the national voters register, days before Ugandans go to the polls on 15 January, 2026.
The distribution began on Wednesday morning at the Commission’s offices, with representatives of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) collecting their copies first. Officials from the National Unity Platform (NUP) followed later in the day, as the exercise continued. The other presidential candidates scheduled to receive their copies in due course.
The move came shortly after opposition candidates publicly criticised the Commission for delaying the release of the register, arguing that the delay had limited their ability to examine it properly ahead of the elections. Under the law, the final voters register is supposed to be issued to candidates and political parties at least two weeks before polling day.
Despite those legal timelines, the register is now being released only a few days before the election, when voters will choose a president and members of Parliament.
Electoral Commission spokesperson Julius Mucunguzi said the Commission was proceeding in an orderly manner and remained committed to conducting a transparent and credible election. He explained that the voters register is being issued in stages, organised by district and region, to make it easier for candidates and their agents to verify the information.
According to Mucunguzi, the register covers more than 50,000 polling stations across the country and runs into about one million pages. Each page contains voter details and photographs that will be used for identification on polling day.
He added that candidates or their authorised representatives must physically inspect the documents before receiving them, a process that can take up to three hours due to the size and volume of the materials.
A total of eight candidates are contesting for the presidency, among them incumbent President Yoweri Museveni, National Unity Platform leader Robert Kyagulanyi, Mugisha Muntu of the Alliance for National Transformation (ANT), and Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) candidate Nathan Nandala Mafabi.
