In Kenya’s National Assembly, lawmakers have opposed several changes that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) proposes to adopt ahead of the 2027 general election. Ten months before the vote, at least three provisions of the Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2024 have faced resistance from parliamentarians, Nation Kenya reports.
One of the IEBC’s proposals stipulates that an applicant for a nominated seat in a county assembly must be a registered voter in one of the constituencies within the relevant county on the date the party list is submitted. National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah called the provision regressive, unconstitutional and unfair. He said he would seek its removal during the bill’s third reading.
Nominated lawmaker Irene Mayaka believes the requirement contradicts constitutional guarantees of freedom of movement and residence in Kenya. Currently, a person can be nominated to any of the country’s 47 county assemblies. They have 770 nominated seats in addition to 1,450 directly elected seats.
Lawmakers also rejected the IEBC’s initiative to increase the maximum number of voters at a polling station from 700 to 1,000. In their view, raising the limit without expanding the network of polling stations could complicate voting, create risks of abuse and deprive some citizens of the opportunity to vote. East Wajir MP Aden Mohammed said that serving one thousand voters at a polling station could take more than 12 hours, so parliamentarians propose retaining the current limit.
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The IEBC, for its part, says the new voter identification devices operate faster than the equipment used in the 2013, 2017 and 2022 elections. The commission also cites its own study conducted after the 2022 election and believes that under the new limit voting at most polling stations could be completed by 4:00 p.m.
Separately, lawmakers propose transferring the consideration of disputes arising during party primaries to the Electoral Disputes Tribunal. Justice and Legal Affairs Committee Chair George Murugara said the IEBC’s role in resolving nomination-related disputes should be removed. Parliamentarians also questioned the amount of funding the commission is requesting to conduct the 2027 election.
At the same time, the National Assembly has not yet considered other IEBC proposals, including granting the commission powers to prosecute election-related offences and expanding voter registration from the diaspora. The commission also proposes that candidates on party lists alternate between different genders and that a list begin with a female candidate.
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