High Court orders IEBC to release voter list for public inspection
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) will in the next 48 hours have to publish a confirmation that the register of voters is open for public inspection, the High Court has ruled.
In a case filed by Africa Centre for Open Governance (Africog) director Gladwell Otieno against the electoral agency while seeking to have the commission compelled to publish the register of voters before the August 8 polls, Justice George Odunga yesterday declined to issue that order as requested.
Justice Odunga said that if he was to do so, it would definitely interfere with the preparations as well as holding the forthcoming General elections as already planned.
REGISTRE
Since the IEBC had told court that they had already made public the register of voters for inspection purposes, the judge asked them to simply publish a confirmation that that has been done, the manner in which it was carried out and the period that was to take place.
He pointed out that no evidence had been tabled in court to show that the register of voters had been made public.
“I decline to issue the orders in the manner in which they have been sought, however, this court already has a duty to make the legal position clear with respect to the law not only for the purposes of the forth coming general elections but for the future as well,” ruled Justice Odunga.
He therefore ordered that in future the IEBC should at all times make public the register of voters as per Section 6 of the elections Act and regulation 27 of the voter registration regulations in order to allow particulars therein to be rectified if need be.
He however pointed out that such an exercise should be done by the commission for a period which it considers appropriate.
He said the law stipulates that the IEBC should within 90 days from the date of notice for a general election, open the register of voters for inspection for a period of at least 30 days or when the commission deems necessary.
WEB PORTAL
The judge said this register of voters should always be made available for inspection to the public at all polling stations, by way of a web portal or any other medium approved by the IEBC.
“Accordingly, the order which commends itself to me and which I hereby issue pursuant to the fair administrative action Act is that the IEBC to within 48 hours publish in the media a confirmation that the register of voters is open for inspection and the manner of as well as period for such by the public,” ruled Justice Odunga.
The judge also said that the case was a clear public interest matter.
Ms Otieno had accused IEBC of refusing to make public the register of voters hence termed that action as one intended to considerably lock out public views and comments on it in the inspection exercise.
She argued that there are notable inconsistencies in numbers declared by the IEBC as the actual ones for registered voters in certain regions and an inspection of the register will enable a scrutiny of the same so as to ascertain the actual figure in those areas.
But the IEBC on its part claimed that it had already created a web portal www.voterstatus.iebc.or.ke, availed a Short Message Service short code which is 70000 and that they have continually published number of polling stations as well as voters online.
IEBC also said the information sought for by Ms Otieno is available from its offices at a fee.
The Jubilee party which had joined the case as an interested party, had denied existences of inconsistencies in the numbers declared by IEBC in the register of voters.
