Article 60-68 Uganda Constitution 1995
Article 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, and 68 of the Uganda Constitution 1995 is under ‘Electoral Commission’ of Chapter 5 of the Constitution. Chapter 5 is titled ‘Representation of The People‘.
Article 60 Uganda Constitution 1995
Electoral Commission
(1) There shall be an Electoral Commission which shall consist of a chairperson, a deputy chairperson and five other members appointed by the President with the approval of Parliament.
(2) Members of the commission shall be persons of high moral character, proven integrity and who possess considerable experience and demonstrated competence in the conduct of public affairs.
(3) The members of the commission shall hold office for seven years, and their appointment may be renewed for one more term only.
(4) If the appointment of a member of the commission is being renewed, the renewal shall be done at least three months before the expiry of the first term.
(5) A person holding any of the following offices shall relinquish his or her position in that office on appointment as a member of the
commission—
(a) a member of Parliament;
(b) a member of a local government council;
(c) a member of the executive of a political party or political
organisation; or
(d) a public officer.
(6) Members of the commission shall be paid such emoluments as Parliament may determine.
(7) If a member of the commission is absent or dies, the President shall, with the approval of Parliament, appoint a person qualified in terms of this article to act in his or her place until that person is able again to resume his or her duties or, as the case may be, until a new person is appointed to fill the vacancy.
(8) A member of the commission may be removed from office by the President only for—
(a) inability to perform the functions of his or her office arising out
of physical or mental incapacity;
(b) misbehaviour or misconduct; or
(c) incompetence.
(9) Any question for the removal of a member of the Electoral Commission shall be referred to a tribunal appointed by the President, and the President may remove the member if the tribunal recommends that the member should be removed on any of the grounds specified in clause (8) of this article.
(10) Where the question for removal of a member involves an allegation that the member of the Electoral Commission is incapable of performing the functions of his or her office arising from physical or mental incapacity, the President shall, on the advice of the head of the Health Services of Uganda, appoint a medical board which shall investigate the matter and report its findings to the President, with a copy to the tribunal.
(11) Where a tribunal is appointed by the President under clause (9) of this article in respect of any member of the Electoral Commission, the President shall suspend that member from performing the functions of his or her office.
(12) A suspension under clause (11) of this article shall cease to have effect if the tribunal advises the President that the member suspended should not be removed.
Article 61 Uganda Constitution 1995
Functions of the Electoral Commission
1. The Electoral Commission shall have the following functions—
(a) to ensure that regular, free and fair elections are held;
(b) to organise, conduct and supervise elections and referenda in accordance with this Constitution;
(c) to demarcate constituencies in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution;
(d) to ascertain, publish and declare in writing under its seal the results of the elections and referenda;
(e) to compile, maintain, revise and update the voters register;
(f) to hear and determine election complaints arising before and during polling;
(g) to formulate and implement voter educational programmes relating to elections; and
(h) to perform such other functions as may be prescribed by Parliament by law.
2. The Electoral Commission shall hold presidential, general parliamentary and local government council elections within the first thirty days of the last one hundred and twenty two days before the expiration of the term of President, Parliament or local government council as the case may be.
3. Except where it is impracticable to do so, the Electoral Commission shall hold general parliamentary and local government council elections on the same day.
4. Subject to this Constitution, the Electoral Commission shall, in accordance with the law, determine the dates for holding the elections referred to in clause (2).
Article 62 Uganda Constitution 1995
Independence of the commission
Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, the commission shall be independent and shall, in the performance of its functions, not be subject to the direction or control of any person or authority.
Article 63 Uganda Constitution 1995
Constituencies
(1) Subject to clauses (2) and (3) of this article, Uganda shall be divided into as many constituencies for the purpose of election of members of Parliament as Parliament may prescribe; and each constituency shall be represented by one member of Parliament.
(2) When demarcating constituencies for the purposes of clause (1) of this article, the Electoral Commission shall ensure that each county, as approved by Parliament, has at least one member of Parliament; except that no constituency shall fall within more than one county.
(3) Subject to clause (2) of this article, the boundary of a constituency shall be such that the number of inhabitants in the constituency is, as nearly as possible, equal to the population quota.
(4) For the purposes of clause (3) of this article, the number of inhabitants of a constituency may be greater or less than the population quota in order to take account of means of communication, geographical features, density of population, area and boundaries of districts.
(5) Subject to clause (1) of this article, the commission shall review the division of Uganda into constituencies within twelve months after the publication of results of a census of the population of Uganda and may as a result redemarcate the constituencies.
(6) Where the boundary of a constituency established under this article is altered as a result of a review, the alteration shall come into effect upon the next dissolution of Parliament.
(7) For the purposes of this article, “population quota” means the number obtained by dividing the number of inhabitants of Uganda by the number of constituencies into which Uganda is to be divided under this article.
Article 64 Uganda Constitution 1995
Appeals from decisions of the commission
(1) Any person aggrieved by a decision of the Electoral Commission in respect of any of the complaints referred to in article 61(f) of this Constitution may appeal to the High Court.
(2) A person aggrieved by a decision of the commission in respect of a demarcation of a boundary may appeal to a tribunal consisting of three persons appointed by the Chief Justice; and the commission shall give effect to the decision of the tribunal.
(3) A person aggrieved by a decision of the tribunal made under clause (2) of this article may appeal to the High Court.
(4) A decision of the High Court on an appeal under clause (1) or (3) of this article shall be final.
(5) Parliament shall make laws providing for procedure for the expeditious disposal of appeals referred to in this article.
Article 65 Uganda Constitution 1995
Staff of the commission
The appointment of officers and employees of the Electoral Commission shall be made by the commission acting in consultation with the Public Service Commission.
Article 66 Uganda Constitution 1995
Expenses of the commission
(1) Parliament shall ensure that adequate resources and facilities are provided to the commission to enable it to perform its functions effectively.
(2) The commission shall be a self-accounting institution and shall deal directly with the Ministry responsible for finance on matters relating to its finances.
(3) The administrative expenses of the commission, including salaries, allowances and pensions payable to or in respect of persons serving with the commission, shall be charged on the Consolidated Fund.
Article 67 Uganda Constitution 1995
Organisation of elections
(1) The Electoral Commission shall ensure that elections are held at times fixed and notified in advance to the public.
(2) No candidate in an election shall be denied reasonable access and use of State-owned communication media.
(3) All presidential candidates shall be given equal time and space on the State-owned media to present their programmes to the people.
(4) Parliament shall make laws regulating the use of public resources and institutions during election campaigns.
Article 68 Uganda Constitution 1995
Voting at elections and referenda
(1) At a public election or referendum, voting shall, subject to the provisions of this Constitution, be by secret ballot using one ballot box at each polling station for all candidates in an election and for all sides in a referendum.
(2) Immediately after the close of the poll, the presiding officer shall proceed to count at the polling station, the ballot papers of that station and record the votes cast in favour of each candidate or question.
(3) A candidate is entitled to be present in person or through his or her representatives or polling agents at the polling station throughout the period of voting, counting of the votes and ascertaining of the results of the poll.
(4) The presiding officer, the candidates or their representatives and in the case of a referendum, the sides contesting or their agents, if any, shall sign and retain a copy of a declaration stating—
(a) the polling station;
(b) the number of votes cast in favour of each candidate or question,
and the presiding officer shall there and then, announce the results of the
voting at that polling station before communicating them to the returning
officer.
(5) Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, an issue for
determination by a referendum shall be taken to be determined by a majority of the votes cast at the referendum.
(6) Parliament may by law exempt any public election, other than a Presidential or Parliamentary election, from the requirements of clause (1) that it shall be held by secret ballot.
