Civil Society actors have advised political parties to pay attention and target new voters in the ongoing demarcation of new polling areas by the Independent Electoral Commission.
The Electoral Commission (EC) is conducting this exercise at local governments in cities and districts where new sub-counties, Towns, and parishes/wards were created after the 2020/21 general elections.
The exercise, which started on the 6th will end on the 16th of August 2024.
According to Charity Ahimbisibwe, Executive Director Electoral Laws and Governance Institute, political parties need to target voters with their messages as they encourage them to participate in the electoral processes.
She advised that voter education should start as soon as possible.
According to the Commission, the following activities shall be undertaken; Merging of polling stations with significantly low number of voters within the same parish, Splitting of polling stations with more than 1,200 voters (for Kampala Capital City) and more than 900 voters for the rest of the country.
The other activities are; renaming, relocation, rationalization, relocation, and creation of new polling stations.
“In preparation for the 2025/2026 general elections, the Commission will re-organize polling stations countrywide to enable voters to conveniently cast their votes, by ensuring adequate space at polling stations as well as a manageable number of voters per polling station”, a statement from EC reads in part.
According to the revised roadmap for the 2026 general elections, the next activity of the calendar will be the display of constituencies, electoral areas, and their polling stations at Sub Counties and parishes from September 20th to October 26th, 2024.
