National Assembly passes Elections Bill removing mandatory livestreaming of poll results

The decision, made on Thursday, October 22, comes ahead of the 2027 General Election and has sparked debate over transparency, accountability and public access to election results.

The Bill, Senate Bill No. 29 of 2024, was sponsored by Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah and Minority Leader Junet Mohamed. It seeks to implement recommendations arising from the National Dialogue Committee (NADCO) and amend several provisions of the Elections Act, 2011.

At the centre of the debate is Clause 22, which proposes changes to Section 39 of the Act, governing the determination, transmission and declaration of election results.

Under the proposed changes, the IEBC would no longer be expressly required by law to establish a mechanism for livestreaming results as they are announced at polling stations. 

However, the commission would retain its responsibilities for electronically transmitting results, verifying figures and publishing polling-station results forms through an online public portal.

The proposed removal of mandatory livestreaming has raised concerns about the public’s ability to monitor election results in real time. 

Livestreaming allows voters, political parties, journalists and election observers to watch results announcements and compare the figures with those subsequently transmitted to tallying centres.

The Bill also proposes changes to other aspects of electoral administration, including voter registration, polling-station designation, political party nominations and the recall of elected representatives.

On the recall of Members of Parliament, the National Assembly approved an amendment setting a threshold of at least one-third of registered voters in every ward within a constituency to support the recall of a National Assembly member.

For senators, the threshold would apply to every constituency within the affected county. A simple majority of participating voters would determine the winner of a recall by-election.

The Bill will now return to the Senate for consideration of the National Assembly’s amendments.