IEBC to announce the way forward on Nyanza voting

The presidential election results are expected to be announced Sunday after a laborious verification process at Bomas of Kenya.

This even as the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) announced that it will Sunday make a decision on whether the four counties of Kisumu, Homa Bay, Siaya and Migori will vote in the repeat presidential election.

The commission’s chairman Wafula Chebukati said his team will sit Sunday and announce the way forward.

“We postponed the election in 25 constituencies because our staff and materials have not reached the final destination.

"As a commission, we have the entire infrastructure ready but we can’t do it alone. It involves security; we cannot put the lives of our staff at risk.

"We shall give a comprehensive reply tomorrow based on the Constitution and laws of the land,” he said.

PROTESTS

Security in the four counties was hampered by sustained opposition to the repeat election from residents who barricaded roads.

On whether he would announce the final results without the voters in the four counties casting their ballots, Mr Chebukati said cryptically: “We will know when time comes”.

The verification saw all 290 constituency returning officers troop to the national tallying centre in Nairobi.

The results from the diaspora were also relayed to the national tallying centre by electoral officials for verification.

ELECTION RESULTS

During the August 8 elections, the returning officers did not come to Nairobi.

In its judgement, the Supreme Court took issue with the way the final results were announced and this time around, the commission took no chances in its bid to meet the standards set by the apex court.

The process is hinged on article 138 (3) (c) of the Constitution on whose basis the Supreme Court annulled the August 8 presidential election.

It reads: “In a presidential election after counting the votes in the polling stations, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission shall tally and verify the count and declare the result.”

COURT RULING

Senate deputy Speaker Kithure Kindiki who was at Bomas of Kenya on Friday told Sunday Nation that unlike in previous elections, Kenyans might have to wait longer for the final results as the electoral commission must follow to the letter the Supreme Court ruling on the transmission and verification of results.

“In hindsight, the framers of the Constitution were right when they indicated that IEBC has seven days to declare results.

"It could be inconveniencing to the public since they may want results sooner but IEBC has to follow the law so that they do not provide gaps for anyone to challenge the results,” he said.

Sunday Nation sat with technical officials of the commission who took us through the process right from when a returning officer arrives at the national tallying centre to when he/she is cleared by the national returning officer Wafula Chebukati.

PROCEDURE

The first stop for a constituency returning officer (CRO) is at the reception desk of the auditorium where they register and are given a waiting card.

It is this card, given on first come first serve basis, that will determine when a CRO will access a common room for photocopying of their statutory documents.

The CRO who comes carrying forms 34A and 34B is then asked to arrange them as they appear in the Gazette Notice.

Every form 34A represents a polling station and before elections, the commission gazettes all the polling stations assigning each a unique number for ease of identification.

It is using the serial numbers that the CRO is asked by the commission’s officials to arrange the statutory documents.

POLLING STATIONS

The process is time consuming since the constituency with the lowest number of polling stations is Lafey in Mandera County, which has 46 while the highest is Naivasha in Nakuru County with 256.

In total, there are 40,883 polling stations and, therefore, an equal number of forms 34A.

After that, the CROs make four copies of each form.

The CRO then moves to the main auditorium floor where there are eight desks each with at least two IEBC officials and party agents.

The CRO hands over the copies of the forms 34A to one official and the agents, and he or she is left holding the original form 34B.

VERIFICATION

The CRO, IEBC officials and party agents then have to go through the two separate forms to ensure that what is entered in form 34B is similar to what is in form 34A.

“The CRO reads the form 34B and the agents and IEBC officials check against forms 34A. If there is any discrepancy, the officials have to record this in a separate form,” Mr Andrew Limo, the IEBC communications officer, said.

He added: “Since the results as declared by the presiding officer and the constituency officer are final, the national tallying centre can only record the discrepancy.

"The remarks made can only be used in court where it makes a decision on whether an offence was committed.”

FORM 34C

Form 34B is then taken to the national returning officer who then is appraised of the process and awards the CRO a clearance certificate after he has signed the form.

“The results are now taken to the plenary and that’s where the commissioners announce them.

"From there, the results are updated on the commission’s website,” Mr Limo said.

The forms 34A and 34B having been verified, are then used to make form 34C, which is used to announce the final presidential results.

“Form 34C is a bulky booklet, which has slightly over 300 pages. It contains all the results in the forms 34A and form 34B,” Mr Limo added.