By KT Reporter
Voting is underway in several wards of Fort Portal in the residual elections for City Women Councillor positions, though turnout remains notably low across polling stations. At Jesus Supply Church of Uganda Polling Station, polling materials had arrived by 7:45 AM, with assistants seen organizing the station. However, only Electoral Commission of Uganda officials were present at the time, as voters and candidates’ agents had not yet arrived.
At Lorry Park Polling Station, by 8:00 AM, polling assistants were still setting up, with only two candidate agents present and voting yet to pick up. Meanwhile, at the Public Library Polling Station, voting began at 8:27 AM, but turnout remained low. By mid-morning, voting was ongoing across affected wards, although voters continued to arrive slowly. At Lorry Park, the presiding officer noted that voters were turning up gradually but in small numbers.
Fort Portal City Returning Officer Isaac Byamugisha told Uganda Radio Network that the election process was proceeding smoothly. He said the commission is using Biometric Voter Verification Kits (BVVK), which were functioning properly. Byamugisha added that the Electoral Commission had sensitized the public through media announcements to encourage participation. “Although the turnout is still low, the day is still on, and we hope for better numbers by the end of the day,” he said.
The residual elections follow an earlier suspension of the polls after ballot papers were mixed up across divisions, with some candidates’ names either swapped or missing. Ballot papers meant for the Central Division were mistakenly delivered to the North Division and vice versa, prompting the commission to halt the exercise.
The elections were initially scheduled for January 22 but were postponed to February 4 following the ballot mix-up and later rescheduled for today. Affected wards include Karago, Kazingo, Kiguma, Ibonde, Kitarasa, Nyakitojo, Kitaka, and Mandako in North Division, as well as Kagote, Kibimba, Nyabukara, Rwengoma, Bazaar, Kasus,u and Kijanju in Central Division.
Candidates had earlier expressed concern that the postponement could negatively affect voter turnout and increase campaign costs.
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