A petitioner, Francis Awino, has filed a motion in court seeking orders to compel the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to disclose its operational protocols ahead of the 2027 General Election in Kenya. The petitioner is requesting the court to order the IEBC to provide information on the location of polling stations, the national tallying centre, and procedures for voter identification and verification. This information is crucial for ensuring the integrity and transparency of the electoral process.
The petitioner has specifically asked the court to order the IEBC to disclose information relating to the designation, location, gazettement, identification, accessibility assessment, and public notification of polling stations and tallying centres. The application also seeks information on the proposed or designated national tallying centre, including its legal basis, location, Gazette Notice, venue records, management protocols, audit trail, and arrangements for public access to information. The petitioner argues that this information is essential for ensuring that the electoral process is transparent and accountable.
The IEBC is also being asked to disclose voter registration, identification, and verification records, including procedures to be followed where biometric verification fails, biometric data cannot be read, election devices malfunction, or connectivity is unavailable. The petitioner wants the Commission to provide policies, manuals, standard operating procedures, circulars, directions, training materials, internal memoranda, correspondence, and decision records relating to the electoral arrangements in question. This information will help to ensure that the electoral process is fair and credible.
The petitioner has asked the court to order the IEBC to file an affidavit within seven days, setting out whether a national tallying centre has been designated for the next General Election. If such a centre has been identified, the Commission is being asked to provide its official name, physical location, legal basis, decision and designation dates, applicable Gazette Notice, and the status of public notification. The proposed affidavit would also be required to state whether the Commission has a written protocol or standard operating procedure for the national tallying centre and voter identification and verification.
The application further asks the Commission to account for the steps it has taken in response to a written request dated September 16, 2026, and to provide copies of responses and other communications relating to that request. The petitioner argues that any new or materially revised national tallying centre or voter verification protocol that could affect voters' political rights should not be implemented without being reduced to writing, authorised under applicable law, and preserved for disclosure to the court and the applicant.
The motion also asks the court to restrain the Commission from designating, relocating, altering, or de-gazetting polling stations or tallying centres except in accordance with the Constitution and electoral laws. The applicant says the restrictions should not prevent measures required by law, emergency necessity, or a court order, provided the Commission preserves written reasons, the statutory authority for the decision, the decision record, and evidence of public notification. The legal challenge invokes provisions of the Constitution dealing with access to information, political rights, fair administrative action, and electoral management.
The motion cites a Supreme Court ruling of October 17, 2017, which clarified the role of national verification in relation to Forms 34A, 34B, and 34C. The applicant argues that publishing precise geographical coordinates of polling and tallying venues would make the locations objectively verifiable and assist voters and election stakeholders in identifying, inspecting, and reporting errors concerning voting and tallying sites. The motion proposes a six-calendar-month publication period as a prospective remedy, arguing that it would allow time for public verification, correction, accessibility planning, and election deployment.
Key points
- The petitioner is seeking orders to compel the IEBC to disclose its operational protocols ahead of the 2027 General Election.
- The IEBC is being asked to provide information on the location of polling stations, the national tallying centre, and procedures for voter identification and verification.
- The motion also seeks to restrain the Commission from designating, relocating, altering, or de-gazetting polling stations or tallying centres except in accordance with the Constitution and electoral laws.
