The IEBC released preliminary turnout of voters at 14, 164,651 out of the 22,120,458 electors who voted on August 9 General Election.
This represents approximately 64.5 per cent voter turnout. The final outcome shall be evident once voters identified through the manual register are tallied.
Based on the electoral commission and the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, there were 27,857,598 Kenyans that the IEBC budgeted to register as voters. On the other hand, there are 29,566,678 Kenyans with ID cards, according to the National Registration Bureau.
In the previous 2017 presidential and general election, the IEBC registered 19, 611,423 voters. Between then and 2022, the commission registered an additional 2,509,035 Kenyans, translating to an increase of 13 per cent.
In the electoral cycle of 2013-17, IEBC data shows there was an increase of registered voters from 14, 352, 533 to 19,611,423, an additional 5,258,890 — translating to an enormous 36.64 per cent increase.
When comparing the two electoral cycles, there has a slight change of 13 per cent increase in comparison to 2013-17, when there was 36.64 per cent increase.
The analysis of the 2022 poll register further shows the number of enrolled women is 10,865,569 representing 49.12 per cent, while there are 11,254,889 men, representing 50.88 per cent of the total of registered voters. This demonstrates women are still underrepresented in the election register, and by extension in the voting process.
To address the issue of apathy in our elections, there is need to enhance transparency through calibration of the procedure.
Ours being a growing democracy, embracing development in legal jurisprudence is an ongoing process. There is, therefore, need to increase the use of technology in line with other democracies. This would reduce manpower and in the process deliver acceptable electoral outcomes.
Contextual understanding and merits of the Electronic Electoral System (EES) is essential to ensure acceptance and compliance by all stakeholders. However herein enumerated are the advantages.
First, the EES is set to reduce the heavy cost of printing ballot papers overseas, which ultimately results in exporting much needed local jobs.
Second the system shall establish an inbuilt audit trail of all ballots assigned at the polling station to ensure verification in the event the need arises.
Third, the system ensures that once an elector casts their ballot, there is receipt generated to confirm the process. This enhances verifiability.
Fourth, in order to maintain confidentiality the receipt indicates only the polling station one voted at without releasing any information about the elector.
Fifth, the cast ballots are electronically transmitted to a tallying centre, where results are tabulated in real time only to be released publicly at the conclusion of the election.
Six, the EES desires to reduce the interface through human labour in the polling process, hence deter electoral malpractices.
Seven, through the use of the now emerging block chain technology, this country can restructure its election processes to address key concerns of being invulnerable with the capacity to trace all activities. This addresses the perennial malaise in the elections where ballots go missing with numbers and results reconfigured.
In conclusion, there is need for the incoming administration to urgently address this technological electoral development. To enhance our democracy, there is need to uphold the key tenets of electoral security, accuracy, accountability, verifiability, integrity, and transparency.
For a start we could pilot with the by or mini elections likely to happen in the next year or two.
Dr Njau Gitu is an educator practicing as a governance and leadership adviser
@GNjauGitu
