Wafula Chebukati, the Chairperson of the Independent Electoral and Boundary Commission (IEBC) has revealed that 99.8% of all total vote casts have already arrived at the National Tally Centre as Vote counting for Kenyan Presidential polls continues.
Chebukati, who lauded Kenyans for being patient, said that the results transmission of form 34A from the polling stations is ongoing and it is now at 99.82%.
IEBC, he said had received vote results from 46,146 out of 46,229 polling stations.
“All results including those in areas that used the manual voter register in Makueni County (Kibwezi West constituency) for 84 polling stations. Kakamega County (Malava, Matungu. Mumias West, and Mumias East constituencies) for 154 polling stations were electronically transmitted through KIEMS kits, except for Malava Constituency where only two polling stations are yet to transmit,” he said
“Collating and announcement of results in a majority of the Constituencies is complete and Returning Officers have now started to physically deliver forms 34As and 34Bs to the National Tallying Centre,” he added.
At the National Tallying Centre, Chebukati said several activities are taking place, including; Verification of transmitted image of results Form 34As against original Form 34As, Verification of constituencies Form 34Bs against their respective original Form 34As. 2 IEBC, and Collation of Form 34C and confirmation of Constitutional threshold of 50% plus one vote and 25% of majority counties and declaration of Presidential results.
“The law requires that the Commission undertakes verification of the Presidential election results and declare the President-elect within seven (7) days after the Presidential Election,” he said,
Adding that the Commission shall endeavor to conclude this exercise at the earliest possible.
By press time DP’s William Ruto was still in a tight race with Rails Odinga in the presidential race. To ensure transparency.
Chebukati said that the Commission signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Kenya Media Sector Working Group (KMSWG) on March 4, as one of the areas of collaboration is providing comprehensive and objective coverage of the electoral process, tallying, and transmission of results.
“In the spirit of transparency, the Commission gave media access to polling stations, tallying centers, and the results portal to report the progress of election results in real-time,” he said.
The original intention, he said was for the various media houses to join hands and have a consortium through KMSWG to report on the progress of election results in real-time from one source. “However, the media houses opted to do it independently, decisions beyond the Commission’s control. We take note that the tallies across the media vary,”
He said that the Commission has ensured 100 percent availability round the clock of the results portal to guarantee transparency.
“The Commission calls for patience from Kenyans as it undertakes this exercise,”
