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[QUOTE="Munyaradzi Mafaro, post: 80315, member: 636"]
The first batch of presidential ballots just landed for Uganda's next big election. The Electoral Commission received an initial shipment of ballot papers printed overseas, a major logistical step ahead of the 2026 general election. Chairperson Simon Byabakama said the delivery at Entebbe Airport was watched by candidate reps, parties, observers, and media to meet transparency rules.

Parliamentary ballots are supposed to show up next. The commission stressed that the whole receiving and securing process has strict supervision and stakeholder involvement. The upcoming election scheduled for January 15, 2026, will involve roughly twenty-one point six eight million registered voters using biometric kits at over fifty thousand polling stations. This delivery kicks the prep work into higher gear, with officials finalizing logistics and training.

Printing the ballots abroad has drawn some flak from opposition voices and online chatter, with critics saying local printing would build more public trust. The commission has repeatedly called for offshore printing to be standard procedure needed for technical and security reasons. They added that all ballots are serialized and handled under tight, multi-layered security to prevent fraud like ballot stuffing, a common allegation in past elections. The last election in 2021 kept President Yoweri Museveni, in power since 1986, in office amid opposition claims of irregularities that authorities denied.
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