Gaps in the management and transmission of election results could create opportunities for manipulation between polling stations, constituency tallying centres and the national tallying centre, according to the Advocate of the High Court Harrison Kinyanjui.
Kinyanjui says political parties must deploy and train agents across the country to monitor voting, safeguard ballot boxes, verify results and raise objections where necessary,arguing that the absence of agents could leave room for interference with results.
“Your agent is supposed to be your eyes at the polling station,” Kinyanjui said during an interview on Radio Generation on Monday.
He said the risk could arise both at polling stations and during tallying, particularly where biometric voter identification fails and officials resort to manual registers.
“When you do not have the agent, and the other side that is now determined and desirous of altering these results has their agent to the exclusion of your agent, then the opportunity at the polling station then is created for buffing those results,” he said.
Kinyanjui also raised concerns over delays in the announcement of results, saying gaps in the process could create opportunities for figures to be altered before presidential results are declared nationally.
He argued that once results have been declared at polling stations and constituency tallying centres, they should retain their legal force and should not be altered administratively.
“The moment the presidential outcome is declared at the constituency level, they should retain that vigor,” he said, drawing on his experience in election petitions.
He urged political parties to ensure their agents are present “all over the country” to independently verify results at every stage of the process.
His comments come as preparations for the 2027 General Election gather pace, alongside growing calls for changes to Kenya’s electoral laws and systems.
The People’s Coalition on Electoral Reforms, led by former Chief Justice David Maraga on September 15 called for amendments to the Elections Act and related regulations by November 30, 2026. The coalition is also demanding an independent audit and public inspection of the voters’ register.
The coalition has further called for the scrapping of the national presidential tallying centre at Bomas of Kenya, arguing that results declared at polling stations and constituencies should not be retallied or altered at a central venue.
Kinyanjui also questioned the accessibility and auditability of the voters’ register and election technology, saying voters should be able to establish where they are registered before election day.
The Maraga-led coalition has similarly called for mandatory biometric voter identification and fully functional KIEMS kits with backup power and transmission capability as part of its proposed electoral safeguards.