Justice Byabakama explains broken seals on ballot boxes 

The Electoral Commission chairperson, Justice Simon Byabakama has explained circumstances under which seals on some of the ballot boxes sent to districts were found broken.

Earlier this week, seals on some of the ballot boxes sent to Hoima and Koboko were found broken whereas others had no seals, raising concern to both voters and candidates.

However, in a statement released on Saturday, Justice Byabakama explained that the seals on some of the polling kits were broken during the transportation from the commission’s main warehouse in Kampala to the respective districts.

“The breakage is a result of impact of stacked metal boxes sealed with plastic seals, pressing against each other, during transportation,”Byabakama said.

The EC boss noted that each polling kit includes two spare seals to take care of emergency during transportation, ballot papers and declaration of results and other materials which are all sealed.

Assures

However, Justice Byabakama assured the public that there is nothing to worry about the broken seals on the ballot boxes.

“As a measure to ensure integrity and transparency of the process, stakeholders in the respective districts are briefed before the offloading begins. Any box that is found with a broken seal gets a replacement, and the serial numbers of both the old and the new seals are recorded. This is done after ascertaining that the contents of the polling kit are all intact,” he noted.

“The Commission assures all stakeholders that the polling kit remains sealed up to the time of delivery at the polling station where the presiding officer will open it, on the morning of polling day, and in the presence of ten registered voters at the respective polling station.”

The development comes barely a week to the hotly contested 2021 polls.