It's getting late. The new electoral law has created a fresh crisis at the electoral agency and preparations for the 2017 election are beginning to seem like a mission impossible.
The law sets new and rigid requirements and shorter timelines, effectively messing up the calendar for the August 8, 2017, general election. Deadlines will be missed.
In a strategy paper obtained exclusively by the Star yesterday, the IEBC says the timelines in the law are not feasible and warns the law has “far-reaching implications on the management of elections”.
As a result, the commission meets this morning with media managers to explain its predicament.
“Since the commission has very little room for manoeuvre, the immediate concern will be whether the law should be amended to give the commission discretion to decide on allocation and distribution of polling stations,” the strategy paper says.
No polling station can have more than 500 voters, but polling stations are just one of a host of problems created by the new law.
A file photo of the Biometric Voter register (BVR) equipments in use for training for IEBC Staff at IEBC warehouse in Kasarani
in readiness for the 30 days voter registration exercise. Photo/ Jack Owuor
Acquiring and integrating technology is another problem. The law also doesn't mesh with procurement regulations and timelines.
The latest crisis emerged yesterday as the government began negotiating with the IEBC members on their exit packages. The earliest a new commission can be in place is November 25.
IEBC had drawn up its 2017 roadmap, the elections operations plan, but the commission must revise timelines to conform to electoral law amendments enacted by Parliament last month.
The commission — yet to get new electoral chiefs 10 months to the poll — once more find itself in an awkward situation, quite similar to that of 2013.
The 2013 polls were marred by late procurement and subsequent massive technology failures that almost pushed Kenya to the brink.
“The new amendments to the election law have far-reaching implications for management of elections, especially 2017, ” IEBC admits in its document. "The major challenge will be around managing the acquisition and implementation of technology."
Already, the IEBC has suspended its inspection of the voter register, set for this month. Instead it is preparing for an audit by an independent firm.
The audit of the register by “a professional reputable firm” was recommended by the joint House team on electoral reforms and enacted into law.
However, the firm is yet to be recruited, and the IEBC plans another mass voter registration in December.
The Election Laws (Amendment) Act 2016 also requires an integrated electronic electoral system.
This means biometric voter registration (BVR) kits, electronic voter identification (EVID) kits and the result transmission system (RTS) must be integrated.
None has been acquired 10 months to the polls.
The law requires all technology be procured eight months to the polls.
“In this regard, between the time the law becomes operational [October 4] and the time technology must be in place, the commission has only 64 days,” the IEBC says.
The team led by CEO Ezra Chiloba says this is almost impossible.
“While the law is not clear on whether the current commissioners should oversee some of these processes, it's important that critical policy decisions are not left in abeyance,” the document says.
Cord leaders Kalonzo Musyoka, Raila Odinga and Moses Wetangula during anti IEBC protests in June. The ptotests led to the formation of a joint parliamentary committee that review electoral laws. Photo/File
The opposition has warned of what it termed “a hurry to carry out high-value procurement” during the transition to the new IEBC.
“Any IEBC officer involving themselves in such suspect transaction during this transition period should be warned they will be held to account individually in the fullness of time,” ODM secretary of political affairs Opiyo Wandayi said.
The IEBC also says the current BVR system may require modification to be seamlessly integrated with the EVIDs and RTS.
One problem is how voters registered using a new system would fit within the existing database of voters registered with the old BVR kits. A updated register of the same standards is required.
During the last election, the commission was unable to fix technical problems that hit on Election Day.
On many occasions, electronic devices in the field malfunctioned, or IEBC staff had no idea how to use them.
At Bomas, the National Tallying Centre, live transmission of results failed, forcing a manual count of the votes in many areas.
Tension was palpable and Kenya was on the brink of trouble as IEBC declared Uhuru Kenyatta President on March 4, 2013.
The new law requires that voter registration, nationally and in the diaspora, must close by February 23.
This is because the law requires verification of voters using biometric data for a period of 30 days. This must be done 90 days before the election.
Unlike the situation in 2013, verification of the voter register must take place at all polling stations and not at registration centres.
This means the IEBC will use 44,000 polling stations for voter verification, compared to 24,000 used in 2013.
“Further, the language used in the current law assumes that the commission will avail electronic devices at all the polling stations for biometric data verification. It's obvious, therefore, a new operational design and additional resources will be required to increase centres of verification and the methodology of verification,” the IEBC document says.
The new law also caps the number of voters per polling station at 500.
Anti riot police guard Anniversary Towers where IEBC offices are located to keep out protesters calling for the removal of commissioners from office on June 6, 2016. Photo/Jack Owuor
However, the IEBC says the polling station is the main cost driver of the election budget and projects an major increasing in the cost of the polls.
The new law also fails to provide timelines for resolving disputes arising from nominations.
It requires the commission to have a web portal to host party membership lists for primaries and submissions of candidates' data.
After elections, the commission is required to tally and verify results received at the national tallying centre and publish the polling results forms on an online public portal.
“As the commission develops the elections results management framework, it has to ensure technology used in elections includes scanning capabilities,” the internal document says.