No Glaring Issues After Scrutiny of Nine Ballot Boxes in Kenya

Wednesday, August 31, 2022

Presidential ballot boxes scrutiny verified counted by Supreme Court officials

Presidential ballot forms were verified and counted by Supreme Court officials in the presence of legal officers and party agents after they were delivered by officials from the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to the Supreme Court of Kenya on August 31, 2022. 

By Joseph Wangui & Richard Munguti

What you need to know:

The nine boxes were from Majengo and Mvita primary schools in Mombasa County.

The numbers matched what was in Form 34A and declaration result forms held by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) in the ballot boxes.

However, some issues emerged such as failure to fill Form 34A, failure to seal rejected ballot papers, lack of stamps and missing physical voters’ registers.

Scrutiny of the first batch of ballot boxes and recounting of votes ordered by the Supreme Court failed to yield any glaring discrepancies in presidential election results.

At the time of going to press, only nine out of 45 ballot boxes had been opened, scrutinised and votes recounted in an exercise that was supervised by the registrar of the Supreme Court, Ms Letizia Wachira, and her staff.

The nine boxes were from Majengo and Mvita primary schools in Mombasa County.

Judiciary and IEBC staff receive ballot boxes from Mombasa and Nandi counties after the Supreme Court ordered a fresh scrutiny of votes from 15 polling stations from various parts of the country. A report on the vote check will be tabled in court on Thursday.

The numbers matched what was in Form 34A and declaration result forms held by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) in the ballot boxes.

During the inspection, undertaken in the presence of the agents of the electoral commission, Azimio la Umoja leader Raila Odinga, Kenya Kwanza Alliance leader William Ruto and activists, the votes cast in favour of each presidential candidate were largely tallied.

Judiciary and IEBC staff receive ballot boxes from Mombasa and Nandi Counties at the Milimani Law Courts in Nairobi on Wednesday, August 31, 2022. 

However, some issues emerged such as failure to fill Form 34A, failure to seal rejected ballot papers, lack of stamps and missing physical voters’ registers.

In addition, the scrutiny showed that the ballot box for Stream 1 of Majengo polling station in Mvita had no Form 34A while for Stream 2, Form 34A was blank and not stamped.

In Stream 5 of Mvita Primary School, the ballot box had two Forms 34A.

One was signed by the presiding officer, the deputy presiding officer and agents of political parties such as ODM, UDA, Kanu and PAA. The other Form 34A was unsigned.

Both Forms showed that Mr Odinga had 122 votes while Ruto had 99 votes. Prof George Wajackoyah had two votes and Waihiga Mwaure had none.

In Stream 4, the governor’s declaration result form was found in the presidential election materials.

IEBC provided them with certified copies of Forms 32A and 34C Book 2 used in the impugned election, subject to the applicants providing to the IEBC specific contested polling stations for compliance.

The scrutiny and recount happened under a heavy presence of the police drawn from the General Service Unit, Administration Police and Kenya Police services.

The registrar directed the parties to provide more agents to form two other groups so as to speed up the scrutiny. In seven hours, the team had only scrutinised nine ballot boxes.

Still awaiting scrutiny are ballot boxes from Nandi Hills and Sinendeti primary schools in Nandi County; Belgut, Kapsuser and Chepkutum primary schools in Kericho County; as well as those of Jomvu, Mikindani and Ministry of Water Tanks polling stations in Mombasa County.

Others are Mvita, Majengo and Mvita primary schools in Mombasa County; Tinderet Conmo, in Nandi County together with Jarok, Gathanji and Kiheo primary schools in Nyandarua County.

The scrutiny followed an application by Mr Odinga, his running mate Martha Karua, Youth Advocacy for Africa (YAA), Peter Kirika, Khelef Khalifa, George Osewe, Ruth Mumbi and Grace Kamau.