IEBC proposes Bill to guide recall of MPs, remove need to livestream

IEBC Chairperson Erastus Ethekon during the signing of the UN Elections support document in Nairobi on July 23, 2026. [Benard Orwongo, Standard]

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission has proposed a Bill with far-reaching consequences which, if approved, will impact how the 2027 General Election is going to be conducted.

The Commission has introduced the Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, which proposes a process for the recall of Members of Parliament, doing away with the livestreaming of results at polling centers during elections, ensuring that political parties nominate candidates in compliance with the two-thirds gender rule and granting the courts access to election servers and materials in case of an election petition.

If passed, Kenyans will be able to recall their MPs across the 290 constituencies as the Bill proposes an amendment to section 45 of the Election Act. It proposes that a recall under subsection shall only be initiated within a period of twenty-four months after the election of the Member of Parliament and not later than twelve months immediately preceding the next General Election.

It, however, specifies that a recall petition shall not be filed against a Member of Parliament more than once during the term of that Member in Parliament.

“The electorate in a county or constituency may recall a member of Parliament elected from the county or constituency before the end of the term of the member on grounds of gross violation of the Constitution or any other law, incompetence, gross misconduct or conviction of an offence punishable by imprisonment for at least six months,” reads the draft Bill in part.

A recall shall be initiated by a petition filed with the Commission and the petition shall be in writing and signed by a petitioner who is a voter in the county or constituency in respect of which the recall is sought. The petition shall specify the grounds for recall, contain a list of names of voters in the county or constituency supporting the recall which shall represent at least thirty per cent of the registered voters in that county or constituency and be accompanied by the fee prescribed for an election petition.

“The list of those in support of the recall shall contain the names, address, national identity card number or passport number and signature of the voters supporting the petition,” it adds.

The petitioner shall collect and submit to the Commission the list of names within a period of thirty days after filing the petition with the Commission expected to verify the list within a period of thirty days of receipt of the list.

The Commission, if satisfied that the requirements of this section are met, shall within fifteen days after the verification, issue a notice of the recall to the speaker of the Senate or National Assembly, as the case may be. IEBC will then conduct a recall election within the county or constituency within ninety days of the issuance of the notice.

Notably, numerous futile attempts have been made by the public to recall lawmakers especially after the Gen Z protests but a court ruling declared that Parliament must first enact a specific law guiding the process.

Interestingly, the Bill also deletes the provision in the Elections Act that requires IEBC to establish a mechanism for live streaming results as they are announced at polling stations. This means the live results displayed by IEBC at the National Tallying Centre may not be there in 2027.

The live streaming is part of transparency safeguards that were put in place to secure the credibility of elections shortly after the 2007/2008 post-election violence. If the Bill is approved in its current form, it could deal a blow to the media which has often relied on the live stream to inform the public.

The Bill specifically states that Section 39 will be amended ‘by deleting subsection (1G). Under the existing Section 39(1G), IEBC is required to establish a mechanism for the ‘live streaming of results as announced at polling stations’. The law also provides that the streamed results are ‘for purposes of public information only’.

The sub-section that the draft Bill seeks to delete in the Election Laws Act 2022 reads, “The Commission shall, to facilitate public information, establish a mechanism for the live streaming of results as announced and declared by the respective presiding and returning officers at the polling station and constituency tallying centre, respectively.”

A repeal of the section will mean that Kenyans may not have the guarantee of following election results live as they are being announced.

Leaders across the political divide have already criticized the proposal. Democratic Party leader and former Attorney General Justin Muturi termed the proposal as retrogressive and an attack on democracy.

“Any proposal from whichever corner to ban the live streaming of election results is not only unconstitutional and offensive to the principles of open governance, but also a stain on the democratic conscience of the Kenyan people. Such a proposal undermines public confidence, fuels suspicion, and weakens the legitimacy of electoral outcomes,” stated Muturi on Thursday.

Further, the Bill has proposed the inclusion of a clause that allows the parties to an election petition and the courts to scrutinise the KIEMS kits or any other technology used to transmit results in the event of an electoral petition.

“The Commission shall, pursuant to an order of an election court for a forensic image of the server, memory cards or any other materials, provide the server, memory cards or other materials under confidential cover for scrutiny by the Court. The Commission shall comply with the Data Protection Act when providing the election court with the server, memory cards or other materials,” adds the Bill

It also stipulates that the parties to an election petition shall comply with the Data Protection Act when dealing with or otherwise handling the server, memory cards ог other materials provided to the election court by the Commission.

“The server, memory cards or other materials submitted to the election court shall be returned to the Commission under confidential cover within seven days of the delivery of the judgment of the election court...” reads the draft Bill.

Should the Bill get the nod, IEBC will be required to make regulations to give effect to the scrutiny of election technology.

To ensure that Parliament attains the controversial two-thirds gender rule, the Bill also mandates political parties to ensure that not more than two-thirds of the candidates of the political party submitted to the Commission in a general election for parliamentary elections are of the same gender.

At the same time, the draft Bill proposes that the Electoral Commission shall conduct a fresh voter registration at intervals of not less than eight years and not more than twelve years, immediately after the Commission reviews the names and boundaries of the constituencies in accordance with Article 89(2) of the Constitution.

“The Commission shall review the number, names and boundaries of wards whenever a review of the names and boundaries of counties necessitates a review. The Commission shall revise the register of voters whenever county boundaries are altered in accordance with Article 94(3) of the Constitution.

That notwithstanding, it seeks to ensure that the Commission may, at any time before the date of an election, by-election or referendum, cause an audit of the register of voters to be conducted.

“Audit of the voter register, in the case of a General Election, may be conducted at least sixty days before the date of the general election; and in the case of a by-election or referendum, within such period before the by-election or referendum as the Commission may announce,” the Bill proposes