IEBC 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.
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.
In another proposal, IEBC wants the nomination of its commissioners staggered “to ensure continuity and institutional memory”.
Currently, IEBC has only its chairman Wafula Chebukati and commissioners Boya Molu and Abdi Guliye.
It followed the surprise resignations of vice chairperson Connie Nkatha and commissioners Paul Kurgat and Margaret Mwachanya, six months after the exit of Dr Roselyne Akombe.
“Ideally, commissioners should be in office for the entire electoral cycle, and where not possible, at least two years to the General Election. There is need to consider staggering the appointments so that the term of the entire commission does not end on the same date,” the report adds.
The Wafula Chebukati-led team was appointed just seven months to the General Election, after the Issack Hassan-led panel, which had close to two years to prepare for the 2013 polls, was forced out in 2016 when the opposition accused it of bias.