By Kenfrey Kiberenge in London
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission ( IEBC) Chairman Issack Hassan is concerned over the high number of spoilt votes among the elite.
Mr Hassan said massive voter education was paramount after he told Kenyans in London that 200,000 votes were spoilt during the August 2010 referendum. The ballot papers contained one question where the voter needed to tick either ‘yes’ or ‘no’.
During the recent Law Society of Kenya elections where the “learned friends” were required to choose eight officials out of a list of 30, 200 lawyers spoilt their votes.
Ten votes were also spoilt when Members of Parliament were required to choose representatives to the East African Legislative Assembly.
“This shows that civic education should be conducted to all – it is not a matter of how educated you are,” he said yesterday. Hassan said the commission was pushing for 40,000 polling stations up from the 28,000 used during the 2010 referendum.
The chairman said the mock elections established that with the expanded categories of candidates to vote for, it would take about 10 minutes for each voter to cast their vote.
Literate voters took an average of five minutes to complete ticking and depositing their ballot papers on the box while assisted voters lasted 15 minutes.
He also said the commission would await a court verdict on whether Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Eldoret North MP William Ruto will be allowed to contest the presidency while facing crimes against humanity charges at the International Criminal Court.
“The commission is very keen to apply Chapter Six on leadership and integrity but we are also very keen to hear what the court has to say on the matter,” said Hassan.
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