How Counting of votes will be done by the Presiding Officer, PO, at the polling station

Counting of Results

The Presiding Officer shall adhere to the following steps before counting;

• Allow a health break of at least 15 minutes after close of polling and before setting up the station for counting
• Re-arrange the room for counting
• Assign duties to DPO and Clerks
• Position Police Officers strategically to secure the room
• Brief Agents on what constitutes a valid vote, rejected, rejection objected to ballots, and disputed votes.
• Inform agents and observers on the commencement of vote counting.

Persons allowed in the Counting Room

• Election officials
• Police Officers on duty
• IEBC Commissioners and staff
• Candidates and their running mates
• Accredited Media
• Accredited polling/counting agents
• Accredited Observers

SEQUENCE OF COUNTING/ ORDER OF COUNTING VOTES

The counting and announcement of votes shall be done in the following order:

1. President (Form 34A)
2. Member of the National Assembly (Form 35A)
3. Member of the County Assembly (Form 36A)
4. Senator (Form 38A)
5. County Woman Member to National Assembly (Form 39A)
6. County Governor (Form 37A)

N.B : The opening, counting, filling of forms, packaging, sealing of ballot box and announcement of election result for an elective position shall be completed before commencing the next elective position.

Rejected ballot papers

This is a ballot paper which does not qualify to be a vote because:

• It does not bear the security features determined by the Commission;
• It appears to be marked against the names of, more than one candidate;
• It is not clear to whom the vote has been marked;
• It bears a serial number different from the serial number of the respective polling station ballot papers and which cannot be verified from the counterfoil of ballot papers used at that polling station;
• It is unmarked,

Rejected ballot papers

This is a ballot paper which does not qualify to be a vote because:

• It is marked by more than one mark;
• It bears marks or writing which may identify the voter
• It is marked elsewhere other than in the proper place;

A rejected ballot paper is stamped “IEBC REJECTED” on the face. The serial number of a rejected ballot paper and the reason for rejection are recorded in the Statement of Rejected Ballot papers (Form 41)

Rejection Objection to ballot papers

• This is a rejected ballot paper objected to by agent(s).
• It is stamped “IEBC REJECTION OBJECTED TO” on the face of the ballot paper.
• This ballot paper remains rejected ballot and is also recorded in Form 41 as rejected ballot paper.
• This ballot paper has two stamps e. ‘Rejected’ and ‘Rejection Objected Paper’

Disputed vote

• This is a vote awarded to a candidate but disputed by an The PO shall indicate the serial number of the disputed vote and the candidate to whom it has been awarded and this is recorded in the result declaration form.
• It is stamped “IEBC DISPUTED” on the face of the ballot paper and remains valid, and is tallied in the Form 33(tally sheet) in favor of the candidate so awarded

Sorting and Counting Procedures

• The Presiding Officer should:
• Open the ballot boxes
• Break the security seals on the ballot box EXCEPT the seals on the aperture
• Empty contents onto the counting surface in full view of agents or observers and election officials
• Unfold each ballot paper and place face down
• Check if the ballot paper has an IEBC stamp at the back
• Fill in the Form 41 Statement of Rejected ballot papers if you come across rejected ballot papers
• Sort the ballot papers in bundles per candidate by picking the ballot papers one by one and raise to display the mark on each ballot paper
• Count loudly the votes for each candidate in the order they appear on the ballot paper
• Mark every vote counted on Form 33 (Tallying Sheet)
• Bundle the ballot papers for each candidate in sets of 50 and tie using a rubber
• Immediately after counting for each candidate, record the total number of valid votes in the appropriate polling station result declaration form
• Put the valid votes, the rejected ballot papers and the disputed votes separately in the labelled tamperproof envelopes
• Fill in the PSD ‘Record of Packets’ table

Settlement of disputes during votes counting at the Polling Station

• The PO will make a determination on “Disputed Votes”, “Rejected Ballots” and “Rejection Objected to Ballots”
• A candidate or agent present during counting may request for a recount if there are compelling reasons

• The PO may on his or her own initiative have the votes recounted
• A recount of votes shall not take place more than twice
• The filling of result declaration form commences after the count/recounts