IEBC won’t extend election beyond Saturday
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) will not extend presidential election in counties where the exercise didn’t happen beyond Saturday October 28, 2017.
The voting exercise either failed to take off or was largely disrupted in Nasa stronghold counties. In some polling centres election officials failed to show up for the exercise for fear of reprisal.
Speaking during a press briefing on the tallying process at the end of the voting exercise on Thursday evening at the Bomas of Kenya, IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati said a decision will have to be made if a similar situation unfolds in the counties that are expected to participate in the voting exercise on Saturday.
POSTPONED
The four affected counties affected where the election were postponed and rescheduled for Saturday are Migori, Siaya, Homa Bay and Kisumu, which are considered to be Nasa strongholds.
“The law is very clear, if you look at section 55b of the Election Act, it says that where there is a natural factor preventing voting, or in case like what we have experienced today, issues that breach peace, the commission is under duty to give the voters a chance to exercise their rights and that is what we are doing,” Chebukati said.
“Now, if in case Saturday we have similar issues, then the commission will have to make a decision on the way forward. But we cannot keep on extending that right to vote after Saturday,” he added.