{"id":72059,"date":"2024-04-26T06:26:51","date_gmt":"2024-04-26T06:26:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/2026-polls-ugandans-to-vote-in-38-countries"},"modified":"2024-04-26T06:38:29","modified_gmt":"2024-04-26T06:38:29","slug":"2026-polls-ugandans-to-vote-in-38-countries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/2026-polls-ugandans-to-vote-in-38-countries","title":{"rendered":"2026 polls: Ugandans to vote in 38 countries"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Uganda. <\/strong><\/span>The Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs will table before Cabinet a proposal to enable prisoners and Ugandans in the diaspora vote in the 2026 and subsequent elections.<\/b><\/p>\n

This would mean Ugandans in the diaspora would be able to vote in the 38 countries hosting its embassies in Africa, North America, the Caribbean, Oceania, Asia, and Europe.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are ready with our proposal to table to Cabinet soon in order to comply with what the court has proposed,\u201d Mr Norbert Mao, the minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, said in an interview with this publication yesterday.<\/p>\n

However, details of what has been drafted for the Cabinet remains scanty.<\/p>\n

The proposal<\/b><\/p>\n

Mr Mao told that the proposal will include registering the diaspora community, directing those who are in countries where Uganda has no embassy to countries where Uganda has diplomatic missions so that they can vote from there and putting up logistics which will enable them to vote.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs you know, due to financial constraints, we don\u2019t have representation in every country in the world. Those are the practical things we are going to have to look at, how to make sure that the right to vote is accessible by Ugandans in the diaspora,\u201d the Justice minister said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor instance, in South America, we are very thin on the ground, so if Ugandans are in South America, they would have to travel to the United States of America. Even those in the Caribbean would have to travel to the United States,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn West Africa, we are in Nigeria, in Europe, we are also fairly thin on the ground. We are not everywhere in Asia, but I do believe that Ugandans should know that it is the will of the government to ensure our citizens in the diaspora vote and we know where the largest concentrations are. So I believe that logistically, North America and the UK may be easier to handle,\u201d Mr Mao said.<\/p>\n

Mr Julius Mucunguzi, the head of public relations and the spokesperson of the Electoral Commission, said consultations are ongoing to pave way for Ugandans abroad and those in prisons to vote.<\/p>\n

\u201cConsultations with the Justice ministry and the Attorney General\u2019s chambers on the matter are ongoing. We await the outcome of those consultations,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n

Mr Mao added that all those in the diaspora who want to vote will have to first be registered by the National Identification and Registration Authority (Nira), which record the EC will use during the polling exercise.<\/p>\n

He also admitted that the process might prove more difficult than envisaged because of lack of finances and logistics.<\/p>\n

Background<\/b><\/p>\n

In 2018, Steven Kalali, a lawyer, sued the Electoral Commission and the Attorney General at the High Court Civil Division in Kampala, seeking voting rights for prisoners who are 18 years and above, and Ugandans in the diaspora of the same age bracket.<\/p>\n

Kalali had argued that prisoners in Uganda of 18 years and above possess the fundamental and inalienable right to be registered as voters and to vote, based on Article 59(1) and (2) of the Constitution. He said excluding these Ugandans from the voters\u2019 registration exercise is illegal and a violation of their fundamental right to be registered as voters and participate in various voting exercises.<\/p>\n

In 2020, Justice Lydia Mugambe of the High Court in Kampala ruled that the Electoral Commission (EC) must make arrangements for prisoners and Ugandan diaspora to vote, saying their continued disenfranchisement was against the Constitution of Uganda.<\/p>\n

Justice Mugambe added that prisoners and the diaspora are part of the citizens envisaged in Article 59 and that as the supreme law of the land, all other laws must be in consonance with the Constitution.<\/p>\n

Countries with Uganda\u2019s embassies<\/b><\/p>\n

Africa: South Africa, Angola, DRC Congo, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania, Algeria, Egypt, Ethiopia.<\/p>\n

North America: USA,Canada, The Caribbean: Cuba Oceania: Australia Asia: Malaysia, China, Japan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, India, United Arab Emirates<\/p>\n

Europe: Turkey, Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Russia, France, and Italy.<\/p>\n

Source: Monitor<\/b><\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Uganda<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Uganda. The Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs will table before Cabinet a proposal to enable prisoners and Ugandans in the diaspora vote in the 2026 and subsequent elections. This would mean Ugandans in the diaspora would be able to vote in the 38 countries hosting its embassies in Africa, North America, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":72058,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6],"tags":[233,240,234],"class_list":["post-72059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-files","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-uganda","tag-uganda"],"yoast_head":"\n2026 polls: Ugandans to vote in 38 countries - Uganda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs will table before Cabinet a proposal to enable prisoners and Ugand ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/2026-polls-ugandans-to-vote-in-38-countries\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"2026 polls: Ugandans to vote in 38 countries\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs will table before Cabinet a proposal to enable prisoners and Ugand ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/2026-polls-ugandans-to-vote-in-38-countries\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Uganda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-04-26T06:26:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-04-26T06:38:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2024\/04\/sm_1714100709.436553.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/2026-polls-ugandans-to-vote-in-38-countries#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/2026-polls-ugandans-to-vote-in-38-countries\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"2026 polls: Ugandans to vote in 38 countries\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-04-26T06:26:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-04-26T06:38:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/2026-polls-ugandans-to-vote-in-38-countries\"},\"wordCount\":685,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/2026-polls-ugandans-to-vote-in-38-countries#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2024\/04\/sm_1714100709.436553.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Uganda\",\"uganda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"files\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/2026-polls-ugandans-to-vote-in-38-countries#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/2026-polls-ugandans-to-vote-in-38-countries\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/2026-polls-ugandans-to-vote-in-38-countries\",\"name\":\"2026 polls: Ugandans to vote in 38 countries - 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