| Article Published on: 2nd March 2006 |
| Missing names; the EC missing link |
By Richard M. Kavuma
WEEKLY OBSERVER
WEEKLY OBSERVER
By 12.20 p.m. last Thursday, the situation at City House on William Street was threatening to spin out of control, with over 10 people remonstrating and cursing the Electoral Commission.
They brought the voter register and I went behind and ticked my name; now they bring back
the
register and they have deleted my name, Esther Nakkazi quarrelled before policemen and foreign observers during last Thursdays presidential and parliamentary elections.
| Anxious voters queue up to vote last week in Wakiso district |
She did not have a voters card but if her name was on the register she would have been allowed to vote. Nakkazi claimed that she had been deliberately targeted by NRM-leaning Local Council officials.
My shop is there and I have a Besigye poster; these people know us and they erased our names, she said, pointing at FDC presidential candidate Kizza Besigyes blue poster.
Complaints about missing names were perhaps the commonest thing during the polling exercise.
I and my wife went to vote and we were told our names were not there, so we simply went away, said Peter Kabagurusi, a resident of Bukasa in Makindye Division.
Complaints about missing names were perhaps the commonest thing during the polling exercise.
I and my wife went to vote and we were told our names were not there, so we simply went away, said Peter Kabagurusi, a resident of Bukasa in Makindye Division.
At City House Polling Station One, at least 11 people joined Nakkazi to protest, forcing policemen to advise them to move farther away from the queue.
This is malice. How come it is only us non-NRM supporters whose names were deleted? quarrelled one man, prompting one Musiime Emmanuel to speak out:
I am NRM but my name is missing.
By 11:40 a.m., with 200 people having voted at Butikkiro Road in Lubaga Division, presiding officer Gordon Ggolooba had registered eight cases of card-bearing people with names not on the register.
By 11:40 a.m., with 200 people having voted at Butikkiro Road in Lubaga Division, presiding officer Gordon Ggolooba had registered eight cases of card-bearing people with names not on the register.
UPC presidential candidate Miria Obote also complained that thousands of her supporters had
not
voted because their names were deleted from the register.
The Electoral Commission explains that some names may have been deleted from the register at the recommendation of polling tribunals provided for under Section 25 of the Electoral Commission Act. The tribunal comprises three members of the village executive committee, an elder and the parish chief. But Ali Kayanja, an election monitor for the Democratic Party, said opposition parties were not represented on the tribunal and could therefore not rule out foul play.
Neither could Electoral Commission spokesman Okello Jabweli:
Neither could Electoral Commission spokesman Okello Jabweli:
It is possible that some of these tribunals acted in a malicious way when they recommended deletion of some names, Jabweli said, emphasising, however that there are more possible reasons for names missing from registers.
In areas like City House which had more than one polling station, he said, some
names
may have ended up at the wrong station.
Other people, for instance in Kampala, may have registered where they work instead of where they reside or originate, as stipulated in the Act.
Some polling stations in Kampala Central were registering close to 2,000 people, Jabweli said. During the updating exercise, a lot of names were recommended for deletion.
Some polling stations in Kampala Central were registering close to 2,000 people, Jabweli said. During the updating exercise, a lot of names were recommended for deletion.
Asked why people did not have a chance to view the final register, Jabweli said the law did not provide for that.
Besides, some voters complained that either polling officials did not enforce the requirement of voters dipping their thumbs in ink after voting, or the ink used was not indelible as required by the electoral law.
The EC decided to use markers whose ink voters said was easily removable with ordinary soap and water. To prove critics wrong, Jabweli displayed his left thumb, whose c
uticle
still had a faint trace of ink, four days after casting his ballot.
It is not true that the indelible ink was easy to wash away, unless one wanted to cheat the system, he said, adding that the dipping method used previously was unpopular, particularly with female voters.
It is not true that the indelible ink was easy to wash away, unless one wanted to cheat the system, he said, adding that the dipping method used previously was unpopular, particularly with female voters.
In fact, the EC was this week preparing a statement to guide voters who still had ink on their thumbs ahead of todays LC-V chairperson elections.
Besides these complaints, the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) protested the relaying of results from upcountry districts by telephone, instead of fax. Party elections chief Maj. Rubaramira Ruranga, and later Besigye himself, said with the phones, they could not ascertain that these were the results countersigned by their polling agents.
However, Jabweli said that because of poor infrastructure, some upcountry results could only be relayed by phone if the 48-hour deadline was to be met. H e further explained that party agents had access to phone lines to do their own recording as the results came in.
However, Jabweli said that because of poor infrastructure, some upcountry results could only be relayed by phone if the 48-hour deadline was to be met. H e further explained that party agents had access to phone lines to do their own recording as the results came in.
Bribery and voter intimidation were some of the other irregularities reported. Although election observers generally okayed the elections, they also noted the rampant complaint of missing names, as well as the usual problems electoral problems such as materials arriving late and ballot boxes without seals.
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