By Kabuye Ronald
Uganda’s Electoral Commission (EC) has confirmed that voters will not be allowed to stay behind after casting their ballots while journalist’s cameras and visual recording devices like phones will also not be allowed near the ballot boxes.
The commission’s chairman Justice Simon Mugenyi Byabakama said the norm of voters casting their votes and stay behind in guise of vote protection will not be allowed this time due to Covid 19 pandemic.
Byabakama asserted that the work of vote protection and monitoring will be done by the respective candidates’ agents and accredited observers in order to avoid flaunting Covid19 standard Operating Procedures.
Byabakama has also premised the issue of not allowing cameras and visual recording gadgets near the ballot boxes on protection of voters’ choice since it is supposed to be kept as a secret especially on the ballot paper.
It should be noted that on Monday this week, political parties that unite under the Inter Party Organization for Dialogue (IPOD) petitioned the electoral commission to out guidelines to be followed on the electoral day.
They specifically questioned how the issue of those who stay behind after casting their ballot will be handled in this era of Covid19 pandemic.
In the same way the National Unity Platform (NUP) presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu alias Bobi Wine has been encouraging his supporters to stay at the polling stations until tallying is done.
