Human rights lawyer Omega Aloyo has filed a judicial review application in the High Court seeking to block the 2026 general elections unless the Electoral Commission (EC) includes prisoners in the voting process.
In her application dated November 6, Aloyo accuses the EC of maintaining what she calls a “persistent and unconstitutional pattern of disenfranchisement” by failing to register or facilitate voting for prisoners, despite clear constitutional guarantees.
She cites Article 59 of the Constitution, which states that every citizen aged 18 and above has the right and duty to register and vote.
Aloyo argues that incarceration does not strip individuals of their civic identity, adding that the purpose of imprisonment is rehabilitation, not exclusion from democratic participation.
“Can Uganda claim to be a democracy while excluding an entire class of its citizens from the ballot box?” she asks in her filing, warning that the ongoing exclusion undermines the legitimacy of national elections.
According to the August 2025 Monthly Statistical Abstract of the Uganda Prisons Service, the country has 78,819 prisoners, including pre-trial detainees who have not been convicted of any offence.
Aloyo notes that these prisoners include women, persons with disabilities and others whose lives are directly shaped by policies enacted by elected leaders.
She argues that denying them the right to vote contradicts Uganda’s democratic ideals and breaches the Constitution’s principles of equality and non-discrimination outlined in Articles 20, 21, 24, 32, 35, 36, 38, 42 and 44.
Aloyo’s case leans heavily on the High Court’s 2020 decision in Kalali Steven v Attorney General and Electoral Commission, which declared that prisoners have an inalienable right to vote and that their exclusion was “illegal, discriminatory and unconstitutional.”
The Court held that prison facilities could be used as voter registration and polling stations.
Despite that ruling, Aloyo says, the EC has not implemented the judgment, which she describes as “a direct affront to constitutional democracy” and a violation of Article 126, which makes court decisions binding.
She argues that elections are not merely procedural exercises but central expressions of the people’s sovereignty under Article 1 of the Constitution.
Excluding tens of thousands of citizens, she says, weakens electoral legitimacy and public confidence in democratic institutions.
Aloyo is asking the Court to order the EC to immediately facilitate prisoner voting, declare their exclusion unconstitutional and illegal, and bar the Commission from conducting the 2026 elections without including prisoners.
She also seeks an interim order temporarily halting election preparations until the EC demonstrates full compliance with the Constitution and the Kalali ruling.
The case now places renewed scrutiny on the EC and judiciary at a pivotal moment as Uganda heads toward the 2026 polls.