• Voting delayed for hours at several polling stations after technical failures forced officials to revert to manual voting

ISTANBUL / KAMPALA, Uganda

Ugandans cast their ballots on Thursday in presidential and parliamentary elections, with technical problems and delays at polling stations.

Polls opened at 7 am local time (0400GMT), scheduled to end at 4 pm (1300GMT).

Voting was delayed for hours at several polling stations in Kampala and elsewhere after technical failures forced officials to revert to manual voting, with the Electoral Commission citing problems that left some centers unable to open on time, according to local news website Monitor.

President Yoweri Museveni said some Electoral Commission officials may have failed to submit operators’ biodata to the machines, adding: “Was this deliberate? We’re going to check that.”

Opposition leader Bobi Wine said the biometric machines “are not even working” despite costing “billions of taxpayers’ money.” He accused security forces of trying to “steal our victory” and calling on Ugandans to protect their vote through protesting “unarmed and non-violently.”

Seeking a seventh term, 81-year-old Museveni has ruled Uganda since 1986. He faces seven challengers, including 43-year-old opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi, also known as Bobi Wine, a popular reggae star-turned politician. He came second in the 2021 election.

Opposition candidate Bobi Wine told Anadolu before the polls on Wednesday that the internet shutdown is being used to block communication and as a way of compromising the vote.

Election commission chief Simon Byabakama told local media outlets on Tuesday that he would declare the results within 48 hours of the close of polls, in accordance with the laws of the land.

“What the voters will say is what I will declare to the nation, it is they who determine the president of the country, not me,” he said.

In parts of Kampala and surrounding areas where Anadolu reached, people formed long lines at polling stations, although voting was delayed, awaiting voting materials to arrive.

The East African country’s presidential election uses a two-round system, with a runoff held if no candidate wins more than 50% of the vote.

Uganda’s parliament has 556 members, including 353 directly elected lawmakers, 146 district woman representatives, 30 members from the army, youth, workers, older persons, and people with disabilities, and 27 ex officio members, including the vice-president and ministers, who cannot vote.

About 21.6 million voters have been registered for the election, up from 18.1 million in 2021.

The campaign period has included restrictions on rallies and media coverage, with security measures deployed nationwide.

Voting in the general election is taking place amid restrictions on public communications imposed for the election period.

According to a notification dated Tuesday, the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) ordered a “temporary suspension” of public internet access and selected mobile services during the election period.

The regulator said the suspension, which began at 6 pm local time (1500GMT) on Tuesday, was intended to “safeguard public safety, critical national functions, and the operational integrity of communications infrastructure.”

In a post on US social media company X on Wednesday, the UCC said the move followed a recommendation from the Inter-Agency Security Committee and applied to all licensed operators.

“This measure was taken to mitigate the rapid spread of misinformation and disinformation, curb risks of electoral fraud, and prevent incitement to violence, all of which could undermine public order, national security and the integrity of the electoral process,” it added.

The UN human rights office said on Wednesday that the suspension of 10 non-governmental organizations and restrictions on internet access ahead of the elections are “deeply worrying.”