The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has issued fresh guidelines outlining the circumstances under which sealed ballot boxes can be reopened after votes have been counted, as the electoral body moves to strengthen transparency and accountability in future elections.
In a Gazette Notice dated May 26 and signed by IEBC Chairperson Erastus Ethekon, the commission clarified the procedure for retrieving election materials that may have been mistakenly sealed inside ballot boxes and later discovered at Constituency Tallying Centres.
The commission emphasized that reopening a ballot box will only be allowed for the retrieval of specific election materials and not for recounting votes or altering results already declared at the polling station.
“There shall be no recount or change of already announced results at the polling station,” the notice states.
According to the new guidelines, items that can be retrieved from a sealed ballot box include Kenya Integrated Elections Management System (KIEMS) kits, statutory forms, polling station diaries and mobile phones used by election officials during the voting process.
IEBC said the process can only begin after a Presiding Officer informs the Constituency Returning Officer that essential election materials were inadvertently sealed inside a ballot box.
Once informed, the Presiding Officer shall ensure that agents from the polling station are invited to the Constituency Tallying Center to witness the process of retrieving the ballot papers.
In addition, the commission instructed that the ballot box should be opened in the presence of the Constituency Returning Officer, agents from the polling station and tallying center agents. Immediately after retrieving the required documents, the ballot box will be resealed.
To ensure accountability, the serial numbers of the new seals will be documented in the Polling Station Diary. Witness agents will be requested to sign for purposes of audit purposes.
In circumstances where polling agents fail to contact the polling agents, the constituency returning officer will be obligated to seek direction from the commission prior to continuing with any action.
IEBC said the directions have been guided by the Constitution, the IEBC Act, the Elections Act, and the Elections (General) Regulations, hence their obligatory nature to the electoral process.
As per the commission, the directives are necessary to avoid procedural errors, which might bring into question the credibility and integrity of the election results.
It emerges against the backdrop of growing interest by the public in election matters, especially with the forthcoming General Elections of 2027. This clarification would help clarify the public speculations regarding the handling of election materials in the event of vote counting.
The notice comes on a day IEBC warned political leaders not to make utterances implying that they can manipulate results of the election. It was IEBC’s stance that such utterances are bound to undermine the trust of Kenyans in democratic governance in this country.
In light of the looming 2027 elections, it appears that the election management body is ready to strengthen its credibility by ensuring there are no loopholes through which results would be manipulated.
