IEBC is proposing changes, changes that will see the Kenyan Electoral System Greatrly Change in the next course of years.
The Kenyan Electoral System has time and again come under great scrutiny with many people arguing that it is sort of complicated with Kenyans always required to elect many leaders at a go.
This has made the electoral process in the Country take longer than expected with results, which have always been the bone of contention taking long to be transmitted. This has given Electoral Commissions a bad image with Kenyans always calling for an overhaul of the said commissions basically after each general election.
IEBC, through Chairman Wafula Chebukati is now proposing a number of changes that will all but help streamline the Electoral System should they be adopted.
The Electoral and Boundaries Commission is proposing that Elections be divided into County-based and national elections.
This would however require a referendum to change the 2010 Constitution.
The electoral agency team proposes that the election of governors, senator and MCAs shall fall under the county elections and will be held on a single day.
However, the vote for the President, member of the National Assembly and Woman Representative will be under the national elections with the elections pushed to a different date.
“Staggering of elections for national and county elections will enhance efficiency and reduce pressure on the election system and personnel,” IEBC suggests.
This would require an amendment to the law, which sets the date for Kenyans to make their choice in all the six seats as the second Tuesday of August of every fifth year.
The proposal is captured in the IEBC 2017 post-election evaluation report.
Yesterday, the top brass of the Chebukati-led Commission made a strong case for the changes before the Building Bridges Initiative Taskforce.
The BBI team, a product of the handshake between President Uhuru Kenyatta and Opposition Leader Raila Odinga could recommend for a constitutional change.
Commissioner Abdi Guliye said the county-based election should precede the national election to cure party migration.
“This is the best model we are proposing. It is a practice in some democracies. The reason why we are saying county election should precede the national one is so that people will not move to the party which the President will have been elected on,” he told the taskforce chaired by Garissa Senator Yusuf Haji.