Transmission and Tabulation of
Election Results in Kenya
th
6
EISA ANNUAL SYMPOSIUM
Ahmed Issack Hassan – Chairman, IEBC
Introduction
The Independent Electoral & Boundaries
Commission was created by Article 88 of
the Constitution.
Made up of 9 full time members serving
a six year non-renewable term.
Appointed through an open and
competitive process as mandated by the
IEBC Act
Mandate
 Creation of 80 new constituencies as set out in the Constitution.
 Conduct or supervise referendum and elections to any elective
body or office established by the Constitution, and any other
elections as prescribed by an Act of Parliament.
 Continuous registration of citizens as voters & regular revision
of the voters’ roll
 The delimitation of constituencies and wards
 The regulation of the process by which parties nominate
candidates for elections
 The settlement of electoral disputes, including disputes relating
to or arising from nominations but excluding election petitions
and disputes subsequent to the declaration of election results
Mandate…
The registration of candidates for election
Voter education
The facilitation of the observation, monitoring and
evaluation of elections
The regulation of the amount of money that may be
spent by or on behalf of a candidate or party in respect
of any election
The development of a code of conduct for candidates
and parties contesting elections; and
Monitor compliance with legislation required by
article 82(1)(b) relating to nomination of candidates by
parties
Election Legislations
IEBC ACT, 2011
Section 4(m) of IEBC Act, 2011 emphasizes the use
of appropriate technology and approaches by the
Commission in the performance of its functions.
Elections Act, 2011
Section 44 provides that the Commission may use
such technology as it considers appropriate in the
electoral process, including mechanisms for
electronic voting (s. 109(r))
Tabulation of Election Results
Manual Tabulation
Use of electronic calculators to aggregate
the results of polling station and the
constituency.
Challenges:
Slow
Time consuming process
Prone to human error
Use of Technology
 Spreadsheets
 Provisional Electronic Vote
Transmission (EVT)
Tally at Polling Stations
Constituency Tally
Provisional Electronic Vote
Transmission (EVT)
Principles Guiding Technology
 Legal framework that allows the use of the technology
 Adaptability of the technology to local - infrastructural
challenges such as intermittent power supply or poor
GPRS/GSM network should be taken into account
 Accuracy of the system and verifiability through clear laid
out mechanisms or processes
 Sustainability and flexibility of the system – taking into
account the dynamism of technology
 Security of the system – physical and system security
 Transport and portability
 Affordability
 Understanding and Acceptability by stakeholders, including
the public
EVT System Requirements
 Internet connectivity for data to be transmitted
through a mobile phone or a computer
 GSM/GPRS network was used – it was the
most flexible and cost effective for the system
 The Commission partnered with the major
mobile networks in Kenya with vast coverage for
connectivity
EVT System Requirements …
GSM/GPRS Modem are programmed for the
computer servers deployed in the National and
Constituency Tallying centers
All polling stations are exclusively assigned a
mobile phone that securely connects to the
Constituency and the National Tallying Centre
 A VPN (Virtual Private Network) with
authentication features is then established for
IIEC exclusive use during elections
How it Works
Pilot Testing of EVT
 South Mugirango - June 10th 2010.110 laptops used; 91
polling stations successfully transmitting results
 Matuga - July 12th 2010 with 64 to 37 ratio for mobiles
and computers respectively making a total 101; 74 out of
101 polling stations successfully transmitting results.
 National constitutional referendum (4th Aug 2010),
20,750 Polling stations transmitted using mobile phones,
15,095 of these (91%) successfully transmitted against
the target of 16,500 stations set for the project considering
the GSM network coverage.
By-Elections after the Referendum
IIEC has consistently employed the EVT in all
subsequent by-elections, all of which have had
100% success rate of transmission.
The transmission time has steadily improved to a
record of just under two hours after the close of
polling in the last Kamukunji by-election.
This has ensured transparency and efficiency of
results management and thus enhanced public
confidence in the results, including early
conceding by the ‘losers’.
Transmission Graph Timestamp
7/28/2017
20
Use Of Maps
The use of digital constituency maps in
the EVT system was introduced in the
Kirinyaga and subsequent by-elections to
further improve transparency of results
received from polling stations.
This has also enhanced the presentation
of the results that allow a pictorial view
of the constituency as results trickle in.
Way Forward 2012
The country now has an enabling legal
framework for electronic results transmission.
The political leaders are now embracing EVT
results.
Focus is on aligning the system to the 2012
General Elections that is made up of 6 elections
Aggregating results efficiently and quickly
Use of Interactive digital maps at the
constituency, county and national tally centers