Transmission and Tabulation of Election Results in Kenya 6 th 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

 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 Mandate…

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

 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

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 10 th laptops used; 91 polling stations successfully transmitting results  Matuga - July 12 th 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 (4 th 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 1/28/201620

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