CAMPAIGN 2017- WE ONLY NEED SENSIBLE ELECTION LAWS TO SAFEGUARD THE VOTE

There is a misconception from both political parties as to what manual vote count is all about.The opposition appears to believe that it's a license to manipulate or rig the election results. This is all about counting votes and not voter registration or transmission. Now if the parties want to expand the scope of the law to comprehensively address the entire process rather than a piecemeal, I support that.

The intention and purpose of manual vote counting are to ensure that each cast vote is actually valid and is counted as the voter intended it to be. It is a backup to mitigate rigging and to avoid the effects of machine failures as it happened in 2013. Additionally, it's to ensure that in the event the machines are hacked into, manipulated or the candidates suspect shenanigans with the counts, everyone will have sure that there is a credible manual tallying system in place.A complete audit trail to ensure credible elections results.

Right now, too much discretion is left to IEBC and that’s a recipe for disaster. It is an open secret that IEBC is not entirely independent and that Jubilee has great sway on how it is running, that gives Jubilee an advantage over the opposition.The only way to clear that is through encoding procedures and processes that transcend parties’ interests and then hold IEBC accountable.

 IEBC is obviously a compromised entity and a lot of Kenyans have lost faith in the institution. It is ill-prepared for the 2017 elections than ever before because of the juvenile politics by CORD & Jubilee. Rather than spending billions on a flawed process by distrusted entities, We can get an outsider to spearhead the election.

An outsider who has no vested interest in the outcome of the elections, a European or American entity whose role is simply to validate the ballots cast with the voter rolls and count them accordingly. IEBC will manage this entity. That will, in my opinion, restore a lot of confidence that the process is open and fair.

The election process must be conducted with utmost sobriety and as meticulously as possible.No leaving anything to chance. I think there should be a process map appended to revised laws that in effect become part of the election process.It must not be left to IEBC’s discretion to decide what that process is, and it is too much of a gamble to risk.

Some have argued that IEBC is independent, IEBC is only independent of undue external influence, not immune or exempt from the law, it is an important distinction. So what should the process maps cover? To some this might be common sense but you will be surprised how much is really left to chance. You ask, and here is what I envision.

Voter registration must be an ongoing exercise and not subject to arbitrary deadlines as IEBC has it now. Kids are turning 18 every day and no voter should be disenfranchised needlessly on account of restrictive deadlines. Registration should be open until 30 days before the election.Kenyans in the diaspora must be included in the process.

Only one voter registry should be on file with the IEBC. Must be verified and certified. It must be available for inspection to avoid voter stuffing. Biometrics, this is supposed to be common sense. A machine readable voter card must be issued to a voter at registration.

During voting, a voter should present his or her identity card at the polling station for him to vote. Ballots given to voters should be scanned and tied to the voter's card at the polling station. Once a voter card is scanned at the polling station, it cannot be used again elsewhere. This will eliminate ghost voters or ballot stuffing.

We need an extra layer of confidence that votes tallied actually match the number of folks showing up at the polling stations. So as rudimentary and redundantly as this sounds, we need a physical headcount.For example, if 1000 ballots are cast at a polling center, our headcount must be 1000 voters.

 A voter should be scanned in a machine and a duplicate receipt issued to the voter, IEBC keeps a copy and the voter a copy. This is the surest way to ensure votes can be easily recounted if there is any dispute. At this point is where manual vote counting comes in.If for whatever reason there is a need to recount votes and validate the returns from any polling station, it can be done timely.

 Same as above except perhaps in extremely remote areas where technology would be limited to batch processing, meaning votes may, in fact, need to be cast manually or provisional ballots are issued. Either way, the vote should count in the same manner regardless of whether it is manually or electrically cast.I think this is a good place to start from and parliament should be wise to refocus their efforts away from partisanship to doing what’s best for this country.