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Kenya votes for new President, Governors and Senators in Monday’s election
Kenyans choose a new president on Monday in a closely contested
election that has divided the east African nation.
Kenya has rolled out new technology in an attempt to ensure Monday’s presidential election is transparent – once votes are counted, the results from each polling station will be electronically transmitted to the central election commission, as well as being publicly displayed.
The new system, similar to the one used in Ghana’s smooth presidential vote in 2012, aims to eliminate errors and prevent accusations of foul play. Voting will still be on paper ballots, but voter identification will be electronic.
Mobile devices at polling stations will not be able to send out any result where total votes exceed registered voters, a common fraud complaint before, the election commission said.
Results will be transmitted over a purpose-built mobile application on the Safaricom network. As a further safeguard, Ong’ondi said the system stopped vote tallies being altered once they had been sent from polling stations and publicly displayed at the IEBC headquarters, on its website and in regional and other centers.
The two top contenders in the presidential poll, Raila Odinga and Uhuru Kenyatta – who have joined the other candidates in calling for a peaceful vote – held final rallies in Nairobi on Saturday before thousands of chanting supporters in a final push before a campaign blackout on Sunday.
“We have put in a significant number of controls to make sure things that happened previously don’t happen,” said Dismas Ong’ondi, director of information and communication technology at the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), which replaced the body that oversaw the last vote.
“People become anxious when you delay releasing results,” he said. This time provisional results could emerge within hours of polls closing, although the IEBC has seven days to announce the official outcome.
The most recent polls suggest another close race this time. The two front-runners, Raila Odinga, and Uhuru Kenyatta, are way ahead of their six rivals but polls suggest there may not be an outright winner on Monday, so it may go to a run-off, provisionally set for April.
The electoral commission has been widely praised for far greater impartiality and professionalism than its predecessor. But it is the first time such technology is being used across the nation, although they have been used for smaller scale votes.
Alongside a new president, voters will also choose senators, governors, members of parliament, women representatives in county assemblies and civic leaders.