Uganda on Wednesday conducted elections for LC3/Subcounty, Town Council, and Municipal Division chairpersons and councillors, but the exercise was marked by low voter turnout across the country.
The elections come in a year that has already seen multiple polls, including the January 15 presidential election, which registered a 53% voter turnout.
Subsequent contests, such as those for district LC5 chairpersons, mayors, and division councillors, saw participation drop further, with some polling stations reportedly recording as few as 50 voters out of more than 700 registered.
Early indications from Wednesday’s LC3 elections suggest the trend of low engagement has continued.
At St. Stephen Church of Uganda polling centre in Nansana, which hosts ten polling stations, no voters were present by 8am, an hour after the Electoral Commission (EC) delivered voting materials and deployed polling officials.
According to the law, voting at any polling station can only commence when at least ten voters are present.
At the Nansana centre, this threshold had not been met by 8am, leaving officials on standby in largely empty stations — a situation observers say could reflect voter behavior at several other centres across the country.
While the EC confirmed that all voting materials had been delivered and polling officials were in position by 7 a.m., the early absence of voters raised fresh concerns about voter apathy and public engagement in the ongoing electoral cycle.
Analysts note that repeated elections in a single year may be contributing to declining participation, with citizens increasingly fatigued by successive polls and political campaigns.
