A lawmaker has proposed amendments to the elections law to fully digitize Kenya’s electoral system.
Mbeere North MP Geoffrey Ruku has introduced a draft bill aimed at eliminating manual voting. The proposed legislation seeks to transition all electoral processes—voter registration, candidate nomination, and voting—online.
“The main goal of this draft bill is to amend the Elections Act, 2011 to establish a fully integrated electronic electoral system in Kenya,” Ruku explained.
During a briefing to the Budget Committee, chaired by Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro, Ruku outlined that the Elections (Amendment) Bill will detail the management, support, and administration of electronic voting systems.
Ruku advocates for replacing the current integrated system, which includes biometric voter registration, voter identification, and electronic results transmission, with a fully digital approach.
“The electoral process is currently a hybrid, combining manual elements like physical ballot papers with electronic ones. This proposal aims to create a fully electronic system,” the draft bill states.
The MP envisions a system where voter registration, voter registers, and candidate nominations are all handled electronically. Voting would be conducted using machine-readable and optically scanned ballots, eliminating manual voting.
“Manual voting systems are becoming increasingly unsustainable in a world where automation is advancing rapidly due to technological progress,” the brief notes.
Since the 2007 elections, which led to violence and unrest, there has been ongoing debate about whether to adopt an exclusively electronic or manual voting system. While the IEBC has improved biometric voter identification, issues remain regarding result transmission and tallying.
The Kriegler Commission, set up to investigate the 2007 election crisis, recommended adopting biometric technology for voter verification at polling stations and incorporating technology into election management.
Consequently, the IEBC implemented the Kenya Integrated Electoral Management System (KIEMS), capable of biometric voter registration, voter identification, and result transmission to the national tallying center.
The Parliamentary Budget Office estimates that a comprehensive electronic voting system would cost Sh10.7 billion, including Sh2.6 billion for KIEMS upgrades, Sh110 million for technology audit and certification, and approximately Sh7.8 billion for vote scanning machines for an estimated 52,481 polling stations in the 2027 elections.
An additional Sh110 million would be required for 4,350 new KIEMS kits and Sh4,620 for training and replacing outdated kits.
“If this Bill is enacted, it could benefit the country by enabling more accurate, faster, transparent, and verifiable processing of election results,” Ruku stated. “E-voting provides convenience and efficiency by eliminating physical ballots, polling stations, and manual vote counting, thus saving time and reducing human error.”
To address the financial concerns, Ruku suggests implementing the system in phases to spread out the costs.
He cited examples from Nigeria, Venezuela, and the US. Nigeria’s system sends results to a central portal in real-time, reducing rigging risks. In the US, touch screens, ballot scanners, signature verification, and web servers enhance voting accuracy and transparency. Venezuela and the Philippines use Smartmatic technology, known for secure result transmission and advanced data recovery.
IEBC data indicates that the technology used in the 2022 elections cost over Sh5.3 billion, with the total election expenses amounting to Sh34.7 billion.
