Some voters in the Jinja East parliamentary by election say their names are missing on the registers.
On Thursday morning as voting got underway in Walukuba, Main Street, Kirinya and Town Hall, voters were seen moving from one polling station to another looking for their names in vain.
Yoram Wachemba, a voter at Main Street primary school says he moved to five different polling stations without finding his name. He says he has given up on voting after asking the presiding officer who failed to give him a good reason why his name was missing.
Alice Akot, a voter at Masese II polling station also found her name missing from the register, yet she is registered and has a voter’s card.
Moses Kiige, a presiding officer at Main Street polling station says some of the voters are not genuine or did not register, but have come up at the last minute to claim their names were omitted.
Salaam Musumba, a Forum for Democratic Change election monitor says more than 30 voters found their names missing at various polling stations in Walukuba West polling station. She says the complaints have been raised to the Electoral Commission.
Deborah Kazoora, an NRM election monitor at Town Hall, says complaints of names missing on the registers have been raised, but the voters are guided on what to do and some have found their names in other polling stations within Town Hall.
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Flavia Mujulizi, the Jinja district Electoral Commission Returning Officer, says the voters don’t know how to find their names.
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Earlier during campaigns, different party members complained of their names missing onn the registers after the Electoral Commission updated them.
Five candidates are vying for the seat which fell vacant in December following a court ruling that nullifed the election of Nathan Igeme Nabeta. Court ruled that Nabeta lacked minimum academic papers to stand for Member of Parliament. Nabeta, a member of the National Resistance Movement, is now facing stiff competition from FDC's Paul Mwiru and three other candidates.
