Report raises concern over IEBC logs on Mandera North election

Elections officers sort out ballot boxes during the 2022 General Election preparations. [Antony Gitonga, Standard]

A clash between Jubilee Party candidate Mohamed Farah and Mandera North MP Abdullah Bashir is expected over a scrutiny report submitted before an election court.

Justice Lucy Gitari ordered for scrutiny of polling stations which Farah had claimed had illegalities and irregularities.

Following the exercise conducted by High Court Deputy Registrar Tessy Marienga, Farah and Bashir will argue on the findings of the 140-page report filed before the judge.

Marienga in her report filed before the judge concluded that there was a concern raised about the logs provided by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) for scrutiny.

According to her report, Farah noted that the logs provided by the IEBC were not logs but summary reports.

" The petitioner, therefore, stated that the respondent (IEBC) had not complied with the court's order on the issue of logs," Marienga's report reads in part.

On the other hand, she said, the commission and Bashir stated that the logs provided were activity logs and any other logs that may be required such as those that would provide coordinates of polling stations were in the main server at IEBC.

She noted:" The respondents stated that the court did not provide for scrutiny of the main server and what was available is the activity log which was provided. The respondents stated that they had complied. The Deputy Registrar proceeded with the scrutiny process with the electoral materials provided by the IEBC and directed that parties address the court on the issue of compliance."

After hearing rival arguments, Justice Gitari ordered that scrutiny of all Forms 35As, 32A, 35B, polling station diaries, all KIEMS kits, all manual registers, all logs from KIEMS kits, all ballot papers used in Libin Girls, Rhamu, Dimtu Primary School, Shir Shir Primary School, Jikow Primary School, Lanqura Primary School, Olla Primary School, Awara Primary School, Alhidaya Primary School, Yabicho Nursery School, and Dara Farms Polling Stations.

Others are Bambo West Polling Stations, Wargadud Dam Polling Stations, Sukela Tinfa, Tinfa Primary School, Ladeni Primary School, Tawfiq Primary School, Dau River Secondary School, Qodi Balanca Shallow Wells, Qorahey Primary, Yaqilla Farms Polling station, Qodobo Nursery School and Sarman Primary School.

In his case, Farah argued there was voter bribery, violence, manipulation of the KIEMs kits, and ballot stuffing among others.

In his reply, Bashir asserted that IEBC conducted a free and fair election.

The two had differing accounts of the scrutiny. However, the Deputy Registrar in her report noted in Shir Shir Primary School polling station there were no tally sheets and there were disputed votes at the time of recount for having been marked at the photograph of the candidate.

At the same time, the report reads the seals in the ballot box were not similar to those in the polling station diary. There was a discrepancy between the number of persons whose names have been crossed in the manual register and those indicated in the polling station diary.

Further, the DR observed that there was a discrepancy between the number of rejected votes found during the scrutiny exercise and the entry in Forms 35As and 35B, and the entry of valid votes cast in form 35As is not clear as either being 243 or 241. However, the forms had similar entries as those in the ballot box save for rejected votes, and the recount also had a similar tally.

In Lanqura Primary School Polling Station, the report reads that entries in Form 35As and Form 35B do not have similar entries to those retrieved from the ballot box and the recount and tally of the number of votes garnered by each candidate are not similar to the entries in Form 35As and 35B.

Farah is challenging Bashir's election on UDM ticket.