The Electoral Commission (EC) has asked Parliament to approve a supplementary budget of Shs 469.5 billion to support preparations for the January 2026 general elections, citing new technological requirements and a significant expansion in the number of polling stations.
Appearing before the Budget Committee, Richard Kamugisha, the Acting Secretary to the Commission, said the additional funds are urgently needed to meet Cabinet directives and address emerging concerns from election stakeholders.
Kamugisha told MPs that Shs 268.380 billion, the largest portion of the request, is earmarked for the purchase of upgraded Biometric Voter Verification Kits (BVVK). He explained that the machines are being acquired to meet enhanced performance standards expected on polling day.
“Subsequent consultations with stakeholders raised concerns regarding the effectiveness of voter verification using the Uganda Bureau of Statistics tablets, which the Commission had planned to use,” Kamugisha said.
“Additionally, Cabinet resolved that for the 2025–26 elections, the Electoral Commission should deploy mandatory biometric voter verification machines.”
He added that the shift to full-time biometric verification has significantly driven up the Commission’s budget for the current financial year.
“As a consequence, and to effectively verify every voter at the polling station, the Commission undertook a number of processes which increased the budgetary requirements,” he said.
The Commission is also seeking Shs 19.603 billion to acquire a de-duplication system, which will automatically identify and remove multiple entries of the same individual from the voters’ register.
Polling Stations Increase to 50,739 Nationwide
Kamugisha revealed that the number of polling stations has increased from 38,000 to 50,739, after the Commission created 15,256 new polling stations to reduce congestion and accommodate smooth biometric verification.
“In order to ensure that voters are able to poll between seven and four o’clock, using mandatory biometric verification—where each voter takes about 30 seconds—the Commission had to split polling stations so that none exceeds 600 voters,” he said.
“This expansion has created additional funding needs.”
More Funds Needed for Gazette and Newspaper Publication
The Commission also requires Shs 2.4 billion to gazette the newly created polling stations, despite having previously gazetted the earlier list. Another Shs 1.2 billion is needed to publish the expanded list in national newspapers, as required by electoral laws.
“For the record, the total number of polling stations currently stands at 50,739,” Kamugisha said.
“The additional polling stations must be published both in the Gazette and the local dailies.”
The Budget Committee will now review the request before making recommendations to Parliament.