Voting. A man is helped to find his name in the register before he casts his ballot during the 2016 General Election in Kyaka in Kyegegwa District. The number of voters has shot up by 2 million. FILE PHOTO

Kampala. The number of voters in the national register has shot up by 11.8 per cent within the last two years, hitting 17 million up from 15.2 million in 2016, according to the Electoral Commission (EC).
The EC spokesperson, Mr Paul Bukenya, attributed the increase to continuous voter registration and update of the national register.
“Every day, someone turns 18. They become eligible voters,” Mr Bukenya said when asked for an explanation.
“When you register for National Identify (card), you include your voting particulars, which, as the Electoral Commission, we capture,” he added.
The EC did not provide statistics on voters that have died within the same period. The increased voter numbers attributed to more individuals attaining age 18, the minimum under Ugandan law when a person is considered an adult and eligible to cast the ballot, implies that the younger population could decide the winner in the next presidential, parliamentary and local government elections.
Mr Bukenya said that since July 2016, the EC has conducted 45 elections and by-elections.
The elections were in the 10 new districts whereas the by-elections were conducted in areas where vacancies have occurred.
“Whenever we have elections and by-elections, we conduct an update of the voters register,” Mr Bukenya said.

NUMBERS OVER YEARS

The number of voters increased from 8.4 million in 1996 to 10.7 million during the 2001 presidential elections.
Towards the 2006 General Election, the number contracted by 1.5 per cent (171, 434 voters) only to surge again by 9.4 per cent ahead of the 2011 elections.
The EC is scheduled to conduct the next General Election in 2021.