Ugandans vote despite internet blackout and biometric machine failures

Ugandans went to the polls on Thursday despite a nationwide internet blackout and widespread technical failures at polling places, in an election in which President Yoweri Museveni, 81, is expected to extend his nearly four‑decade rule. Technical problems with newly introduced biometric voting machines caused disruptions and by midmorning few people had cast ballots, with lines forming in Kampala and elsewhere.

The electoral commission announced that the country’s more than 50,000 polling stations would revert to paper verification for voter identities for the rest of the day, the spokesman Julius Mucunguzi said. Seven candidates are contesting the vote; Mr. Museveni’s main challenger is Bobi Wine, the former pop star Robert Kyagulanyi, whose campaign draws on young voters.

Authorities cut the internet nationwide on Tuesday, saying it would stop the weaponization of misinformation, and the government has temporarily closed several nongovernmental groups, prompting condemnation from the Uganda Law Society, the U.N. human rights agency and Amnesty International.

Results are expected to be announced over the weekend. It remains unclear how the technical disruptions, the internet shutdown and restrictions on civil society will affect the outcome; Mr.

Key Topics

World, Yoweri Museveni, Uganda Election, Bobi Wine, Internet Blackout, Biometric Machines