KAYUNGA: Voting Halted at Three Polling Stations Over Ballot Stuffing

Voting in at least three polling stations has this morning been halted after residents protested the exercise over ballot stuffing.

The exercise is halted at polling stations of Kyato-Mwoloola and Nakyesanja in Kayonza sub county, and also Seeta-Nyiize in Kangulumira sub county.

At Nakyesanja and Kyato, each presiding officer of these polling stations appeared at the polling station alone with boxes stuffed with over 100 ballot papers ticked in favour of Andrew Muwonge, the National Resistance Movement candidate.

At Kangulumira specifically Nakyesanja polling station, the box was stuffed with over 462 ballot papers before even the bio-metric machine was brought to the station.

On all the polling stations, residents have protested progress of the exercise. Although police and the army have cordoned off the stations to prevent chaos, the exercise is still on a standstill. Presiding officers are under police protection at their respective centers.

John Mpiima, a voter at Seeta says the exercise should stop since they cannot trust the officials anymore.

Margret Nakitende, who has headed monitoring of the campaign at Kangulumira notes that EC has declined to pick their telephone calls despite their constant effort to ensure that they find an amicable solution.

Dr Tanga Odoi who is monitoring Kangurumira on behalf of NRM says his not aware of how votes were ticked, and has appealed to the electoral commission to dispatch a team to sort out the matter so that the voting exercise continues.

Justice Simon Byabakama, the Electoral Commission chairperson who is also in Kayunga heading the supervision of the exercise says they have dispatched to reach areas where the incidents have happened so as to find a solution.

URN has heard from local sources claiming that the plot to stuff ballots was executed last night. They say several boxes of pre-ticked votes were dispatched to the most rural sub counties in the district in the wee hours.

However, the Resident District Commissioner Ssempala Kigozi contends that security ensured that there was no movement of people during night. According to him, the few people that moved during night were arrested including members of parliament; Aloysius Mukasa, Charles Tebandeke and Lukyamuzi Kalwanga. URN