Workers from the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) prepare a polling centre ahead of the opening of the general election in Nairobi, Kenya August 9, 2022. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya
Kenyans vote Tuesday in the nation’s presidential elections. Here’s a timeline of when to expect key announcements.
Voting kicked off at the nation’s 46,229 polling stations kicked at 6 a.m. About 22.1 million people are registered to cast their ballots in elections for 1,882 elective posts, including the president, governors, senators, women representatives, parliament and ward representatives.
Polls are scheduled to close at 5 p.m. In previous elections, the authorities have extended voting hours because of delays.
Diaspora voters in a dozen countries -- including the US, UK, Canada, Qatar, UAE, Germany, South Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and South Africa -- are also taking part in the vote.
The counting of ballots begins immediately after the end of voting, starting with the presidential-election votes.
There is a seven-day window for the elections agency to declare the winner of the polls.
"We have seven days, but we don’t have to wait for all that,” Independent Electoral & Boundaries Commission Chairman Wafula Chebukati said in an interview Monday.
The presidential candidates need to secure more than half of the valid votes cast and at least a quarter of the ballots cast in half of Kenya’s 47 counties to succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta. If no candidate meets that threshold, a fresh election shall be held within 30 days in which the winner will be up against the runner-up.
Any court challenge must be submitted to the Supreme Court within seven days of the declaration of the results. The court must then hear and determine the petition within 14 days. Its decision shall be final.
If the Supreme Court determines the election of the president-elect to be invalid -- as happened in 2017 -- a fresh election shall be held within 60 days after the ruling.
The swearing-in of the president-elect is scheduled to take place on the first Tuesday that follows after 14 days from the date the results were announced, or the seventh day following a court judgment upholding the election
