The High Court has dismissed an election petition filed by National Unity Platform (NUP) candidate Rose Nalubowa challenging the election of State Minister for Local Government Justine Nameere as Masaka City Woman Representative to Parliament following a court-ordered vote recount.In a judgment delivered on October 21, 2026, the court upheld Nameere’s election and dismissed Nalubowa’s petition with costs, ruling that the recount was lawfully conducted and that the alleged irregularities had not been proved to have substantially affected the final outcome.The dispute stems from the parliamentary election held on January 15, 2026, in which the Electoral Commission initially declared Nalubowa the winner on January 16, after she secured 25,443 votes against Nameere’s 20,324.However, Nameere challenged the declaration before the Chief Magistrate’s Court, arguing that results from several polling stations had been omitted. The court subsequently ordered a recount of all 314 ballot boxes, subject to their integrity.The recount reversed the initial results, with Nameere securing 25,502 votes against Nalubowa’s 23,176. Other candidates, Juliet Nakabuye Kakande and Sauya Nanyonga, obtained 6,136 and 5,921 votes, respectively.Following the recount, Nameere was declared the winner and subsequently gazetted as the duly elected representative for Masaka City.Nalubowa challenges recount processDissatisfied with the outcome, Nalubowa petitioned the High Court, seeking to overturn the recount results, cancel Nameere’s declaration and gazettement, and have herself reinstated as the rightful winner.Through her lawyers, Samuel Muyizzi Mulindwa and Alexander Lule, Nalubowa argued that the recount was marred by procedural irregularities, including the use of photocopied Declaration of Results forms, compromised and unsealed ballot boxes, and the exclusion of nine polling stations with 4,091 registered voters.Her legal team also contended that the recount exceeded the statutory four-day period under Section 74(2) of the Parliamentary Elections Act, was conducted beyond normal court hours without adequate judicial supervision, and lacked a reliable audit trail.“The recount arose from unsecured, falsified, inflated, and inconsistent materials, rendering the result unverifiable,” her lawyers submitted.They further argued that excluding the nine polling stations disenfranchised voters and potentially affected the final result.Nameere, Electoral Commission defend recountNameere, who was represented by Anthony Bazira and Sam Ssekyewa, defended the recount, maintaining that her application had been filed within the legally prescribed period.Her lawyers argued that Nalubowa’s petition was an incompetent attempt to appeal the Chief Magistrate’s decision through a separate legal process. They also maintained that the recount was conducted under judicial supervision and that any minor technical irregularities did not change the outcome.The 30 new faces in Museveni’s 2026-2031 CabinetThe Electoral Commission and the Returning Officer, represented by Geofrey Kandeebe Ntambirweki and Haruna Ssewaya, also supported the validity of the recount.In an affidavit sworn by Principal Legal Officer Enoch Kugonza Amooti, the Electoral Commission maintained that the January 15 election had been conducted in accordance with electoral law and that the initial declaration remained subject to lawful post-election dispute resolution procedures.Court explains decisionIn dismissing the petition, the judge held that the recount had been carried out within the bounds of judicial discretion and the applicable legal provisions.On the question of the statutory timeline, the court observed that Section 74(2) of the Parliamentary Elections Act requires the recount to be appointed within the prescribed period, rather than requiring every administrative tallying process to be physically completed within that period, provided the court acts diligently.The judge also rejected the argument that the condition of some ballot boxes automatically invalidated the entire recount.“An open or imperfectly sealed ballot box does not, without cogent evidence of actual fraudulent tampering or material alteration, automatically invalidate an entire judicial recount,” the court held.The court further ruled that a judicial officer supervising a recount has the authority to exclude polling units whose ballot containers are found to be compromised beyond reconciliation, in order to preserve the integrity of verifiable votes.On whether the alleged irregularities had affected the election outcome, the judge said Nalubowa had the burden of proving that the claimed non-compliance substantially altered the results.“In the absence of proof that compromised votes were fraudulently credited to the respondent, the margin of victory established under the supervised recount reflects the lawful will of the electorate,” the judge ruled.The court consequently upheld Nameere’s election as Masaka City Woman Representative to Parliament and ordered Nalubowa to pay the costs of the dismissed petition.The post High Court dismisses Rose Nalubowa’s petition, upholds Justine Nameere’s Masaka City victory appeared first on MBU.