The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has approved parallel tallying for the August 9 general election by the media and political parties.
This is even after parties, the media, and election observers did parallel tallying before and they have been largely unsuccessful.
The head of the electoral agency Wafula Chebukati described the action as a crucial step toward ensuring openness in the elections.
However, Chebukati, who serves as the national returning officer for the presidential election, cautioned political players from calling anyone a winner, stating that is his constitutional role, during a consultative meeting with the media sector in Kwale county on Saturday.
“You can count the results but of course do not declare. That one you leave to me,” he stated.
Earlier, the commission had been asked for permission by the media and some politicians to count the presidential votes.
According to Chebukati, the action is intended to increase the involvement of all parties, including the media, in election concerns, particularly when it comes to results administration.
“The media houses, political parties, and candidates are free to have their own parallel tally. We can all work together and have one of the peaceful elections in the country,” he added.
The IEBC further requested that candidates and political parties recognize the role that the media plays both before and after elections.
“Candidates, their agents, and political parties are required to respect the role the media plays during and after elections. Candidates and political parties are required not to prevent the media from accessing rallies, meetings, demonstrations,” Chebukati said.
Independent tallying has been possible since the electoral laws were amended in 1997, allowing interested parties access to counting centres and mandating public display of the vote count at each polling station.
The IEBC published the voter list this week, revealing that there will be 22,120,458 registered voters across all 47 counties in 2022, up from 19,611,423 in 2017.
Before the August general elections, only Nairobi, Nakuru, and Kiambu counties had more than a million registered voters.
The largest voting district in Nairobi, with 2,415,310 registered voters, followed by Kiambu (1,275,008) and Nakuru (1,054,856).
Four candidates, including front-runners William Ruto (UDA/Kenya Kwanza Alliance) and Raila Odinga (ODM/Azimio), have been approved by the commission to compete for president.
The other two are David Mwaure of the Agano Party and George Wajackoyah of the Roots Party.