By Trevor Solomon Baleke | Eye Media Uganda | December 19, 2025
As Uganda heads into another heated electoral season, the National Unity Platform (NUP) has continued to popularise a slogan-driven strategy: “Go vote, keep the votes, count them, and if they don’t declare in our favour, demand for our declaration.”
While the message excites supporters emotionally, a sober look at electoral law, polling-day procedures, and the clearly defined roles of key actors exposes why this approach is unrealistic, legally untenable, and bound to fail.
To understand why, one must first appreciate how elections actually work on polling day.
Voting Is an Individual, Not Collective, Act
The role of a voter is simple and singular: to cast a vote.
Once a voter has voted, their role ends. The vote becomes part of a sealed, legally protected electoral process governed by the Electoral Commission (EC). Voters do not “keep” votes, take custody of ballots, or supervise the declaration process. Any attempt by voters to overstep this boundary amounts to interference with an electoral process and is, by law, an offence.
In short, voting does not translate into ownership or custody of ballots.
Polling Agents: Observers, Not Custodians
Polling agents are often misunderstood—sometimes deliberately so for political mobilisation. Their role is to observe, not to control.
A polling agent is mandated to:
- Witness the voting process
- Observe counting at the polling station
- Raise objections and record irregularities where necessary
- Sign the Declaration of Results Form if satisfied
Crucially, polling agents do not touch ballot boxes, do not keep ballots, and do not supervise security. They cannot override presiding officers, annul results on their own, or force declarations in favour of any candidate.
Therefore, the idea that a party can “keep the votes” through polling agents is both misleading and legally impossible.
The Polling Constable: The State’s Security Arm
The polling constable is deployed to ensure:
- Safety and security at the polling station
- Adherence to electoral laws and regulations
- Orderly conduct by voters, agents, and candidates’ representatives
Importantly, the polling constable answers to the law and the state—not to political parties. If any group attempts to block officials, seize materials, or unlawfully “demand” declarations, the polling constable is duty-bound to intervene.
This makes the notion of mass “demand for declaration” not only impractical but a direct collision with state authority.
Declaration of Results Is a Legal Process, Not a Negotiation
Election results are declared strictly by authorised electoral officials at different levels:
- Presiding Officers at polling stations
- Returning Officers at constituency and district levels
- The Electoral Commission at national level
Declarations are based on tallying procedures laid down in law—not on crowd pressure, social media trends, or street activism. If a candidate or party is dissatisfied, the law provides remedies: complaints, petitions, and courts of law.
There is no legal provision for forcing a declaration simply because a group “believes” they won.
Where NUP’s Strategy Collapses
NUP’s approach relies heavily on political emotion while ignoring institutional reality. It falsely suggests that:
- Votes can be physically “kept” by civilians
- Declarations can be compelled outside legal frameworks
- State security and electoral officials will stand aside under pressure
History has consistently shown that elections are won and lost within systems—not slogans. Mobilising supporters to expect outcomes that the law does not support only sets them up for frustration, confrontation, and disappointment.
The Bottom Line
Elections are governed by rules, roles, and institutions.
- Voters vote.
- Polling agents observe.
- Security enforces the law.
- The Electoral Commission declares results.
Any strategy that ignores this reality, no matter how popular on the streets or social media, is destined to fail.
Ugandans deserve honest political mobilisation—not messages that oversell power to the electorate while concealing the legal limits within which elections operate.
The Eye Media will continue to provide grounded, factual analysis beyond political slogans.
The Author is the Deputy RDC of Kayunga district and veteran journalist, 0752009014, baleke12@gmail.com
