ROSEMARY CHURCH, WORLD NEWS: Results of a referendum in Uganda should be known by Saturday. Observers say Thursday's balloting will be able to be interpreted in more than one way. The referendum asks if voters want more political choice. But as CNN's Catherine Bond reports, it may also be read as a presidential popularity poll.</s>CATHERINE BOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The referendum decides whether Uganda will continue to be governed by a single-party system called The Movement imposed 14 years ago by President Yoweri Museveni or return to multi-party politics. Early results indicate the vote could be in favor of The Movement which accommodates opposition politicians as individuals in parliament. Flanked by his wife and daughters, Mr. Museveni cast his vote near his home in the southwest of Uganda. Electoral fraud, Mr. Museveni says, marred Uganda's last multi- party elections in 1980, when party politics was broadly split along religious lines. Ruling Protestants crushing mostly Catholic opposition. It was this mold that Mr. Museveni wished to break. Fourteen years on, however, his critics say he's using this referendum to entrench himself. In the Ugandan capital of Kampala, public opinion was with him. Seventy percent to 80 percent of the votes cast in some polling stations being pro-Movement. Only 10 percent to 20 percent pro multi-party. Advocates of a return to multi-party rule were split from urging a boycott partially effective, others wanting people to cast their ballots but without campaigning widely to tell them why. In many places, the referendum looked more like a vote of confidence in the Museveni administration. Voter turnout a better gauge of popular opinion than the number of multi-party votes cast. Voter turnout was high in areas where Mr. Museveni is popular, low in areas where he's not. Catherine Bond, CNN, Kampala.
Ugandans Vote On Future Political System