Voting extension causes vote-counting delays

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The decision by the Electoral Commission to extend the General Election voting exercise by an hour on Thursday, January 14, 2026, had a ripple effect, causing delays in the counting of votes across the country.

EC's decision followed widespread failure of Biometric Voter Verification Kits (BVVK) due to technical challenges in several districts in the country, which disrupted the start of the electoral process.

From the early hours of the morning, the exercise failed to begin as scheduled. Several polling centres opened late as electoral officials arrived late and essential materials were not immediately available.

Voters who had gathered before dawn were forced to wait for hours; their patience was tested under harsh weather conditions of the scorching sunshine.

The situation was worsened by the malfunctioning of the BVVK machines, which were central to voter verification. In many locations, the devices failed to recognise fingerprints, shut down unexpectedly, or could not be activated at all. Attempts to fix the machines caused further delays, slowing down the accreditation process and creating long queues.

Speaking amid growing concern from political actors, civil society and voters across the country, Justice Byabakama acknowledged that the biometric voter verification kits failed to function in many polling stations, despite earlier assurances that the machines would be fully operational on polling day.

Despite the setback, the EC chairperson emphasised that the Commission’s overriding priority was to prevent voter disenfranchisement. It is for this reason that there was an extension of voting to 5:00 pm from 4:00 pm.

“I can confirm the extension by an additional hour as a result of the hiccups experienced this morning,” Mucunguzi said.

Over 21.6 million Ugandans were expected to take part in the voting of the President and Members of Parliament.

President Yoweri Museveni blamed EC for 'deliberately failing the operations of BVVKs. The kits are aimed at identifying the voter and eradicating multiple voting at polling stations.

The President said he has directed a probe to establish which officials failed to send the biodata to the machine operators to enable them use the BVVKs. He was addressing the media shortly after voting at Kaaro polling station in Rwakitura, Kiruhura district.

The extension of the voting exercise, however, delayed the counting of votes and pushed the release of results further into the night. Floodlights replaced daylight at some polling stations and centres as officials prepared for sorting and tallying. While the process ran behind schedule, the resolve to uphold the integrity of the election remained firm.

For instance, vote counting in most of Kampala city-based Kansanga parish ended almost at 10:00 pm; political agents were keen on how the votes were counted and eventually sealed. The Ssebuliba zone, which hosted Male polling stations A-N and N-Z, had no power, so the phone lights were heavily relied on.

Also, across the country, collection of ballot boxes went into the deep of the night and early hours of this morning.