Section 1: Interpretation

(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires- "agent" by reference to a candidate, includes a representative and polling agent of a candidate; "authorised mark of choice" means the tick or mark authorised under section 49 to be applied to a ballot paper against or in the picture of a candidate of choice of a voter; "campaigning period" means the period determined by the Commission under section 38 as the period during which campaigning may take place; "candidate" means a person nominated as a candidate for election as an elected member of Parliament; "Commission" means the Electoral Commission established by Article 60 of the Constitution; "constituency" means, subject to section 11 of the Electoral Commission Act, one of the constituencies into which Uganda is divided under Article 63 of the Constitution for the purpose of elections; "currency point" has the value assigned to it in Schedule 1 to this Act; "district" means an electoral district; "election" means the election of a member of Parliament; "election officer" includes a returning officer, assistant returning officer, registration officer, assistant registration officer and any other officer appointed by or under the authority of the Commission with responsibility for registration of voters, or for presiding over voting in any election or for counting votes at any election; "election petition" means a petition filed in accordance with section 79; "illegal practice" means an act declared to be an illegal practice under Part XI; "Minister" means the Minister responsible for presidential and parliamentary elections and referenda; "money" includes a pecuniary reward; "National Voters Register" means the National Voters Register compiled under section 18 of the Electoral Commission Act; "nomination day" means a day fixed to be nomination day; "nomination paper" has the meaning assigned to it in section 28; "office hours" means the hours on a weekday during which the relevant office is open to members of the public; "parish" includes a ward; "payment" includes a pecuniary or other reward; "pecuniary reward" includes any office, place of employment, and valuable security or other equivalent for money and any valuable consideration; "polling agent" means a person appointed by a candidate as a polling agent; "polling day" means a day appointed to be polling day under this Act; "presiding officer" means a person appointed under the Electoral Commission Act to be a presiding officer for a polling station; "public officer" means a person holding or acting in any public office; "region" means a region specified in Schedule 2 to this Act; "registered", in relation to a voter, means registered for the purpose of voting at an election; "registered voter" means a person whose name is entered on the National Voters Register; "returning officer" means a returning officer appointed under the Electoral Commission Act; "Speaker" means the Speaker of Parliament; "special interest groups" means the groups referred to in Article 78(1)(c) of the Constitution; "voter" means a person qualified to be registered as a voter at an election who is so registered and at the time of an election is not disqualified from voting; "voter's card" means a voter's card issued under section 27 of the Electoral Commission Act to a voter whose name appears in the National Voters Register; "voters roll" means the voters roll for any constituency or parish prepared and maintained under the Electoral Commission Act; "youth" means a person between eighteen and thirty years of age. (2) The Electoral Commission Act shall be construed as one with this Act.