Chairperson Justice Simon Byabakama has on Wednesday October 2 confirmed that opposition handed to them pre-ticked ballot papers, ticked in favor of both candidates during the Hoima by-election.
Byabakama was addressing the press on the recently concluded by-elections of District Woman Representative to Parliament for Hoima and Kaabong districts, and other electoral activities under the Roadmaptoday, at the Electoral Commission head offices, Jinja Road, Kampala.
For avoidance of doubt, Justice Byabakama revealed that on Thursday 26thSeptember 2019, the Electoral Commission received a report of attempted ballot stuffing at one of the two hundred and sixty-six (266) polling stations in Hoima District.
He said that two agents for Candidate Nyakato Asinansi, namely, Hon. Michael Kabaziguruka and. Maj. Gen. Mugisha Muntu (Rtd) reported to the EC that a voter attempted to insert pre-ticked ballot papers into the ballot box, but was intercepted by the Polling Constable for that station.
“Those pre-ticked ballot papers should have been handed over to Police for further investigation but Gen. Muntu insisted that they (ballots) be handed over to the Electoral Commission,” Justice Byabakama said adding that the “Commission assigned one of our senior Legal Officers to receive them, and a total of fifty-one (51) ticked ballot papers were handed over to us.”
The ballot papers in question are now a subject of Police investigation.
He said the EC is committed to pursue that matter with Police and ensure that the culprits are brought to book.
He however said that the EC was disappointed by acts of suspected forgery by some FDC supporters who made counterfeit accreditation tags and distributed them to their agents for purposes of observing the by-election.
“I wish to thank the Uganda Police Force for apprehending some of these suspects, namely Kizza Hakim and one Walakira, who have since been charged with forgery before the Magistrate’s Court at Hoima and are now remanded, as investigations continue,” he said.
“A lot of falsehood was disseminated, for example, fictitious results from non-existing polling stations. The Commission condemns this behavior as it misleads the public and other stakeholders and gives voters false hope about the results. We urge Ugandans not to abuse these social media platforms, and warn the public to desist from sharing unverified information,” he added.
