The I
ndependent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has admitted the mistakes that led to the nullification of 2017 presidential elections, saying that such mistake will not be repeated in 2022 polls.
With that regard, the commission has proposed major changes on the conduct of the 2022 poll.
This is the IEBC strategy: the commission wants the presidential and parliamentary elections held at the same time while the vote for governors and ward representatives be pushed to a different date.
This would mean an amendment to the law, which sets the date for Kenyans to make their choice in the six seats as the second Tuesday of August of every fifth year.
FATIGUE
It is not clear if the commission wants lawmakers to specify different dates for the election of members of the National Assembly and the Senate, with previous proposals on the subject calling for senators to be elected on the same day as governors.
“Conducting six elections in one day resulted in fatigue among electoral officials. Some of the errors witnessed were as a result of the fatigue,” the report says.
The commission also wants MPs to change the Constitution to realign the term of county assemblies with that of the other elective seats “for legal clarity”.
The law says that the term of a ward representative is five years — a clause that resulted in the confusion witnessed when the County Assemblies Forum demanded that members be paid for the “remainder” of their term after the August 8, 2017 election.
They argued that having been elected on March 4, 2013, they were to remain in office until March 3, 2018.
IEBC uses its case in 2017 when the presidential election results were nullified — the first on the continent and only the fourth in the world.