Bernard Namunane
27 December 2007
Nairobi — Although the Opposition fears that today's elections could be rigged, strict rules were passed by the Ninth Parliament to deter the malpractice.
ODM and ODM Kenya leaders have accused PNU of allegedly using the Administration Police to rig the elections in its favour. But PNU has dismissed the accusations, saying the poll would be free and fair.
The election regulations, drawn up by the Electoral Commission, were designed to give ECK officers powers to deal with any attempts to rig the elections.
The rules, endorsed by ECK chairman Samuel Kivuitu, were tailored to bring to an end the secrecy the commission wielded in previous polls during the counting of ballot papers at polling stations.
The reason, argued the MPs during debate on the amendments to the National Assembly and Presidential Elections Regulations, was that the actual number of votes cast could only be manipulated at the polling stations where counting was conducted.
Transport assistant minister Njeru Githae submitted that in the past, when counting of votes was at specific counting halls under the returning officers, it was possible to introduce a new set of marked ballot papers to the boxes in transit.
"You could actually steal the elections in transit," he said in the House.
The rules were tabled in Parliament by Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister Martha Karua to broaden transparency in the polls process and give the ECK more leeway in dealing with offences associated with elections.
Apply today
These regulations will apply in today's elections where President Kibaki of PNU is facing eight opponents for the top seat with ODM's Raila Odinga and ODM-K's Kalonzo Musyoka as his major challengers.
Among the highlights of the regulations was giving Electoral Commission officers the mandate to deal with multiple voters at polling stations whenever such cases were detected.
The rules gave the presiding officers, who are in charge of polling stations, the power to reject results in a station where the number of votes cast is higher than that of the registered voters.
The Ninth Parliament also amended Regulation 39 to make it mandatory for the presiding officers to show candidates, agents and election observers, through demonstration, that the ballot boxes to be used to carry the elections results are empty.
And for the first time, the media will be allowed to cover the counting of ballot boxes at the polling centres alongside the candidates, agents, accredited election observers, police officers on duty and a member of the ECK.
The same group will be allowed into the tallying centres where results from polling stations are confirmed and added up to the final result in the constituency.
At the close of the voting exercise, the presiding officers would be required to make a statement of the number of ballot papers issued, those that were used, those spoilt and the number of unused ones and pack them separately.
The packets are to be preserved with the ECK seal while candidates or their agents will be allowed to affix their own seals.
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