MPs Set to Face-off As State Seeks to Ban Livestreaming of Presidential Election Results

A showdown is looming in Parliament should the Elections (Amendment) Bill be passed.

The Bill introduced to the House by leader of majority and Kipipiri MP Amos Kimunya is seeking to ban live-streaming of presidential election results.

The government is attempting to change the law to allow for both manual and electronic transmission of poll results in the General Election on August 9.

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) is required by law to provide information and to set up a mechanism for live streaming of results as they are announced at polling stations.

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The commission is required to use the results announced at the polling station and electronically transmitted to the national tallying center.

According to the proposed legislation, presiding officers will be required to photograph the results declared at the polling station and electronically transmit the image to the national tallying center. In addition, the officers will be required to physically deliver the results to the constituency tallying center.

The results will then be tallied by a constituency returning officer and electronically transmitted to the national tallying center.

“The constituency returning officer shall collate the results in the prescribed form – Form 34B – and deliver the results in person from the polling station to the national tallying centre, together with the collated form,” reads the Bill in part.

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The proposed legislation also requires IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati to declare presidential results only after receiving results from all 290 constituencies.

The current law allows the IEBC boss to declare the results if the remaining results will not have an impact on the overall tally.

The proposed law also seeks to allow candidates to use their nicknames on the ballot.

In 2017 after the presidential results were contested, the Supreme Court ruled that the results announced by returning officers were not subject to review and would stand.

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Furthermore, in order to ensure that this flexibility does not jeopardize a free and fair election, the electoral commission would be required to approve the use of a well-known name in an election.

Another amendment aims to reduce voter hopping from one voting station to the next. According to the Bill, one must be a resident, employed, carrying on a business, or own land or a residential building for six months prior to requesting the transfer.