AFRICAN ELECTIONS DATABASE
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Elections in Uganda
 
Political Profile
Political System: Restricted Democratic Practice
President: Yoweri Kaguta Museveni (NRM) [since 26 January 1986; seized power in 1986 military rebellion, elected 1996, re-elected 2001, 2006 and 2011] The President is elected by direct popular vote for a 5-year term. Electoral System: Two Round (Run-off).
Prime Minister: Amama Mbabazi (NRM) [since 24 May 2011] The Prime Minister is appointed by the President.
Parliament [unicameral] (375 Seats) 238 members are elected by direct popular vote in single-member constituencies using the first-past-the-post system, 112 women are directly elected to represent each of the country's districts, 15 members representing special interest groups are indirectly elected (5 youth representatives, 5 representatives of persons with disabilities, and 5 worker's representatives), and 10 members represent the Uganda People's Defence Force (army). The President may appoint additional ex-officio members; members serve 5-year terms.
Political Situation since Independence
1962-1966 Democracy
1966-1969 Restricted Democratic Practice
1969-1971 One Party State (UPC)
1971-1979 Military Regime
1979-1980 Transitional Government
1980         Military Regime
1980-1985 Restricted Democratic Practice
1985-1989 Military Regime
1989-1996 Transitional Period
1996-        Restricted Democratic Practice
2012 Freedom House Rating: Political Rights - 5, Civil Liberties - 4, Status: Partly Free
Next Scheduled Presidential Election: 2016
Next Scheduled National Assembly Election: 2016
Political Parties: CP - Conservative Party, DP - Democratic Party (conservative), FDC - Forum for Democratic Change, JEEMA - Justice Forum, KY - Kabaka Yekka ["the King Alone"], NRM - National Resistance Movement (authoritarian), PDP - People's Development Party, PPP - People's Progressive Party, SDP - Social Democratic Party, UFA - Uganda Federal Alliance, UNC - Uganda National Congress, UPC - Uganda People’s Congress (socialist), UPM - Uganda Patriotic Movement.
Coalitions: Uganda People’s Congress-Kabaka Yekka (UPC-KY) [Contested the 1962 National Assembly Election]; Inter-Party Cooperation (IPC) [Contested the 2011 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections] Member parties include the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), Conservative Party (CP), Justice Forum (JEEMA), and the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
 
Election Results
 
 
Presidential
--Multiparty: 2006, 2011
--Non Partisan: 1996, 2001
Legislative
--Multiparty: 1958, 1961, 1962, 1980, 2006, 2011
--Non Partisan: 1989, 1996, 2001
Constituent Assembly: 1994
Referenda
--National: 2000, 2005
--Sub-National: 1964
 
 
1958 Legislative Council Election*

Registered Voters

Not Available

Total Votes (Voter Turnout)

Not Available (N/A)

Party

Number of Seats (10)

Uganda National Congress (UNC)

05

Democratic Party (DP)

01

Independents

04

*These were the first elections held for seats on the Legislative Council. The Buganda boycotted the poll.
 
23 March 1961 Legislative Council Election

Registered Voters

Not Available

Total Votes (Voter Turnout)

Not Available (N/A)

Party

Number of Seats (91)

Democratic Party (DP)

43

Uganda People’s Congress (UPC)

35

Others

13

 
25 April 1962 National Assembly Election*

Registered Voters

1,553,233

Total Votes (Voter Turnout)

Not Available (N/A)

Invalid/Blank Votes

Not Available

Total Valid Votes

1,052,544

Party/[Coalition] Number of Votes % of Votes

Number of Seats (82)

Uganda People's Congress-Kabaka Yekka [UPC-KY] 545,324 51.81% 58

 Uganda People's Congress (UPC) (545,324) (51.81%)
37
Kabaka Yekka (KY)

(-)

 (-) 21
Democratic Party (DP) 484,933 46.07% 24
Uganda National Congress (UNC) 2,565 0.24% -
Bataka Party (BP) 2,375 0.23% -
Uganda National Union (UNU) 39 0.00% -
Independents 17,308 1.64% -
*The Buganda region opted for indirect elections and its Lukiiko [local assembly] nominated 21 representatives to the National Assembly. All 21 members represented the Kabaka Yekka (KY) Party.
 
10-11 December 1980 National Assembly Election*

Registered Voters

4,899,146

Total Votes (Voter Turnout)

Not Available (approx. 85%)

Invalid/Blank Votes

Not Available

Total Valid Votes

4,179,111

Party Number of Votes % of Votes Number of Seats (126)**
Uganda People's Congress (UPC) 1,971,779 47.18% 74
Democratic Party (DP) 1,965,823 47.04% 51
Uganda Patriotic Movement (UPM) 171,256 4.10% 1
Conservative Party (CP) 70,253 1.68% -
*The number of registered voters (4,899,146) excludes two constituencies where polling took place without the registers reaching the Electoral Commission; The number of valid votes cast (4,179,117) excludes 17 constituencies where candidates ran unopposed.
**Directly-elected seats only. Initially, two of the 126 seats were undeclared. They appear to have eventually gone to the UPC, increasing their total from 72 to 74 seats.
 
11-28 February 1989 National Resistance Council Election

Registered Voters

Not Available

Total Votes (Voter Turnout)

Not Available (N/A)

Out of a total of 278 seats, 210 members were elected without party affiliation.
 
28 March 1994 Constituent Assembly Election

Registered Voters

7,180,514

Total Votes (Voter Turnout)

6,197,525 (86.3%)
284 non-partisan delegates were elected with the principal task of writing a final draft of a new constitution.
 
9 May 1996 Presidential Election [Results by Region]

Registered Voters

8,492,231

Total Votes (Voter Turnout)

6,193,816 (72.9%)

Invalid/Blank Votes

   196,190

Total Valid Votes

5,997,626

Candidate Number of Votes % of Votes
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni 4,458,195 74.33%
Paul Kawanga Ssemogerere 1,416,140 23.61%
Muhammad Kibirige Mayanja 123,291 2.06%
 
27 June 1996 Parliamentary Election*

Registered Voters

8,500,000 (approx.)

Total Votes (Voter Turnout)

Not Available (N/A)

Party

Number of Seats (276)

National Resistance Movement (NRM)

156

Others

120

*The election was officially non partisan; The opposition, after their defeat in the earlier presidential election, met and declared a boycott of the parliamentary elections.
 
29 June 2000 Referendum
Referendum Question: Which political system do you wish to adopt, Movement or Multiparty?

Registered Voters

9,609,703

Total Votes (Voter Turnout)

4,914,524 (51.1%)

Invalid/Blank Votes

   148,800

Total Valid Votes

4,765,724

Results Number of Votes % of Votes
"Yes" Votes 4,322,901 90.71%
"No" Votes 442,843 9.29%
 
12 March 2001 Presidential Election

Registered Voters

10,775,836

Total Votes (Voter Turnout)

  7,576,144 (70.3%)

Invalid/Blank Votes

     186,453

Total Valid Votes

  7,389,691

Candidate (Party) Number of Votes % of Votes
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni 5,123,360 69.33%
Kizza Besigye 2,055,795 27.82%
Aggrey Awori 103,915 1.41%
Muhammad Kibirige Mayanja 73,790 1.00%
Francis Bwengye 22,751 0.31%
Karuhanga Chapaa 10,080 0.14%
 
27 June 2001 Parliamentary Election

Registered Voters

10,570,412

Total Votes (Voter Turnout)

Not Available (70.3%)

National Resistance Movement (NRM) supporters continued to dominate parliament after the election. The opposition boycotted the election. No further information is available.
 
28 July 2005 Referendum*
Main Points: Introduction of Multiparty System
Referendum Question: Do you agree to open up the political space to allow those who wish to join different organizations/parties to do so to compete for political power?

Registered Voters

8,524,230

Total Votes (Voter Turnout)

4,034,232 (47.3%)

Invalid/Blank Votes

     93,144

Total Valid Votes

3,941,088

Results Number of Votes % of Votes
"Yes" Votes 3,643,223 92.44%
"No" Votes 297,865 7.56%
 
23 February 2006 Presidential Election

Registered Voters

10,450,788

Total Votes (Voter Turnout)

  7,230,456 (69.2%)

Invalid/Blank Votes

     295,525

Total Valid Votes

  6,934,931

Candidate (Party) Number of Votes % of Votes
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni (NRM) 4,109,449 59.26%
Kizza Besigye (FDC) 2,592,954 37.39%
John Ssebaana Kizito (DP) 109,583 1.58%
Abed Bwanika 65,874 0.95%
Miria Obote (UPC) 57,071 0.82%
 
23 February 2006 Parliamentary Election

Registered Voters

Not Available

Total Votes (Voter Turnout)

Not Available (N/A)

Party

Number of Seats (284)*

National Resistance Movement (NRM)

191

Forum for Democratic Change (FDC)

37

Uganda People’s Congress (UPC)

09

Democratic Party (DP)

08

Conservative Party (CP)

01

Justice Forum (JEEMA)

01

Independents

36

Vacant

01

*Directly-elected seats only (215 constituency seats and 69 district women representatives).
 
18 February 2011 Presidential Election*

Registered Voters

13,954,129

Total Votes (Voter Turnout)

  8,272,760 (59.3%)

Invalid/Blank Votes

     334,548

Total Valid Votes

  7,938,212

Candidate (Party) [Coalition] Number of Votes % of Votes
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni (NRM) 5,428,369 68.38%
Kizza Besigye (FDC) [IPC] 2,064,963 26.01%
Norbert Mao (DP) 147,917 1.86%
Olara Otunnu (UPC) 125,059 1.58%
Beti Kamya (UFA) 52,782 0.66%
Abed Bwanika (PDP) 51,708 0.65%
Jaberi Bidandi Ssali (PPP) 34,688 0.44%
Samuel Lubega 32,726 0.41%
*Provisional final results with 23,851 of 23,968 (99.51%) polling stations reporting.
 
18 February 2011 Parliamentary Election

Registered Voters

Not Available

Total Votes (Voter Turnout)

Not Available (N/A)

Party Number of Seats
350 (365)*
National Resistance Movement (NRM) 250 (263)
Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) 34 (34)
Democratic Party (DP) 12 (12)
Uganda People's Congress (UPC) 10 (10)
Conservative Party (CP) 1 (1)
Justice Forum (JEEMA) 1 (1)
Independents 41 (43)
Vacant 1 (1)
*350 members were directly elected (238 constituency seats and 112 district women representatives); The figures in parentheses reflect the distribution of seats when both the directly and indirectly elected seats are combined. An additional 10 seats were reserved for representatives of the Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF). A detailed distribution of parliamentary seats is available here.