Election Day

It is election day for president and members of parliament. Political arguments have been the main topic of conversation during the 50 minute rides in the crowded UN Land Rovers that go back and forth between Mbarara and the project villages. Of course, I don't understand much of it as it's usually in Runyankole (and my studies, which have been sporadic, have sadly not yielded much). It's generally loud but people laugh a lot. And the arguments often run along the lines of peace and stability (pro-Musevani) vs. corruption, ineffectual government, and developmental stagnation(supporters of one of the seven opposition candidates). There's also been speculation about the likelihood of post-election violence. Uniformly people think the likelihood of violence is low- there's a moderate military/police presence and no one is optimistic that they would use restraint. There's also such a sense of inevitability about Musevani's victory that it will not come as a surprise to any faction when he gets the >51% needed to avoid a run-off.

Election day is a national holiday. It is very quiet in town, with many businesses closed. By law, campaigning had to stop yesterday so there are none of the music-blaring, poster-decorated trucks which have been present for weeks on the street. People have to cast votes from their home village or city and there are no absentee ballots so many Ugandans who work away from home have traveled. And about half the westerners I know have left the country. (IF violence occurs I'm quite close to both the Tanzanian and Rwandan borders.) My Ugandan housemate, Sam, and I walked to a few of the polling sites this morning. They are outdoors, ballots are paper and pencil which are then stuffed into large plastic boxes, and people get their thumbs stamped on registration but the polls otherwise look like ours- lines of people patiently waiting to vote. The Besigye campaign has been airing a radio ad asking people to arrive early, make sure there are no ballots in the box before the polls open, and stay late. So there are more people hanging around- more police and lots of observers.