It could take until Saturday to determine and declare the winner of the presidential battle.
Kenyans are anxious for results and presiding officers have submitted nearly all the Form 34As.
As of Wednesday at4.30pm, more than 45,480 Form 34As, about 98 per cent, had been submitted to the IEBC public portal, raising hopes for an early declaration by the IEBC.
However, though the forms have been uploaded, official results will only be declared after Constituency Returning Officers (CROs) present the physical forms with figures as declared at the polling station.
CROs are required to physically deliver the complete Forms 34A and 34B but will only do so after declaring results for Members of Parliament and MCAs.
Insiders at Independent Electoral and Boundaries commission said the project to conclude the process at the latest by Saturday afternoon.
The votes for MP and MCA are counted and tallied right after those for president, many of which were yet to be declared by close of business on Wednesday, sparking anxiety.
At the National Tallying Centre, the IEBC will verify the transmitted image of the results form against the physically delivered results.
IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati would thereafter verify whether the submitted Form 34As add up to the figures recorded in Form 35B - where the polling station results are tallied.
The IEBC chair –who is the presidential returning officer, then collates the constituency results into Form 34C and confirms if the winner has attained the required 50 per cent plus one threshold to win.
According to the Constitution, the winner should also get the majority vote in at least 24 of the 47 counties.
“We must verify with the agents of the presidential candidates. We are looking for 50 per cent plus one and the winning candidate must win in 24 counties,” Chebukati said.
But as of Wednesday, the commission said none of the physical Form 34As had been delivered, including returning officers of constituencies in Nairobi.
IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati said at a briefing that the commission would declare the winner after receiving results from the 290 constituencies and diaspora.
“We will tally and collate results from all the 290 constituencies plus diaspora. We shall announce as soon as the process is finished,” he said.
The polls agency boss said the IEBC was yet to receive any physical result forms at the Bomas of Kenya national tallying centre as of Wednesday afternoon.
“We will declare the results once all the returning officers bring the documents to the national tallying centre. We expect the returning officers to start coming this (Wednesday) afternoon,” he said.
Chebukati indicated that it is after the verification that the commission would populate the results and display the same on screens mounted at the tallying centre.
“We will use the screens to populate the results immediately after the team verifies the forms but results announced at the polling station are final. There is no other result.”
The law provides that the IEBC should undertake the verification and declare the result of the presidential election within seven days – that is on August 16.
“We will endeavour to conclude the exercise as soon as possible,” the IEBC chairman said, announcing that at least 14,164,561 voters turned out to vote in the August 9 election, translating to 64 per cent of the 22 million registered voters.
IEBC further revealed that wrong forms were submitted from a polling station in Rongo, Migori county, while two incomplete Form34Bs were submitted from Ainabkoi and Saboti constituencies.
The commission said the forms were erroneously uploaded in the results portal. “The commission will wait for the original Form 34A from the returning officer, validate with presidential agents, and thereafter replace the image in the portal.”
