Julie Soweto: Forms 34A, 34B and 34C had a difference of 180,000 votes

Lawyer Julie Soweto at a past court hearing. [Boniface Okendo, Standard]

Julie Soweto, the lawyer representing Raila Odinga and Martha Karua in the presidential petition, has said that there were inconsistencies in the results entered in forms 34A, 34B and 34C.

Form 34A is used to record presidential results at the polling station level. Form 34B, on the other hand, is a collation of all the forms 34A, and recorded at the constituency tallying centre.

Form 34C is a collation of all forms 34B. It is recorded at the national tallying centre, and it's what the IEBC chairperson uses to establish who has won the presidential election.

Soweto, during her submission at the Supreme Court on Wednesday, said the affidavit of one Arnold Oginga highlighted how results from the three different forms 34 had differences totalling 180,000 votes.

"Forms 34A and the results therein ought to be the same as those in forms 34B and 34C. Arnold Oginga, in his affidavit, finds that there is a discrepancy in the results to the extent of 180,000 votes," she said.

The lawyer said owing to the "small margin" that Ruto was declared the winner of the presidential race, the 180,000 votes discrepancy could tilt the election outcome.

Ruto got 7.18 million (50.49 per cent) to be declared the president-elect, with Odinga coming second with 6.94 (48.85 per cent) of the votes.

Soweto also questioned why in several polling stations, especially those in Central Kenya and Rift Valley, more voters cast their ballots for the president than other elective seat candidates.

The IEBC had, in their replying affidavit, said stray votes, violence and postponed elections in eight areas resulted in higher votes cast for president than some other seats.

A stray ballot paper, according to the IEBC, refers to the ballot paper dropped in the wrong category, for instance a marked MCA ballot paper dropped in the governor's ballot box.

Soweto said the argument that stray votes contributed to a higher number of votes for presidency than other elective seats wasn't convincing.

"In Kirinyaga County, for example, there was an average of 33 stray ballot papers per polling station. That's not possible [naturally]," she said.