How much does it cost to print one ballot paper? IEBC reveals

According to Marjan Hussein Marjan, CEO of the IEBC, who spoke to the media at the JKIA as the commission received the first batch of ballot papers from Greece, a total of 22,120,258 papers will be printed for each of the 6 elective seats in the August 9th General Election.

The printing of the papers is expected to cost the Kenyan taxpayer about Ksh.3.2B, according to the IEBC, if no corrections are necessary. 

The company intends to print more than 120 million ballots, which will be shipped to Kenya.

“It is a three-year framework contract with a budget of 28 million euros (Ksh.3.4 billion) and an estimated number of ballots in excess of 120 million,” said the firm in a regulatory filing to the Athens Stock Exchange.

“The project is referring to the production of election ballots that have the highest security standards, special packaging, air transportation, as well as the traceability process to ensure safe delivery to each constituency,” said Lykos.

Inform Lykos, the company contracted to print the papers, says that the printing will take place at its headquarters in Greece, with a backup location in Romania.

Founded in 1897, Inform P Lykos Holdings SA provides companies and agencies with products and services for secure document and information management towards highly specialised solutions.

The company, on its website, says it has a presence in Greece, Romania and Albania, and claims a leading position in the markets of Central and Eastern Europe.

Lykos has been listed on the Athens Stock Exchange since 1994. There are 17 companies under its corporate family. 

The firm, through its subsidiaries, provides information management and processing services and products in paper and digital documents.

“We provide state-of-the-art technology, combined with personalised and efficient service to manage documents in physical and digital format and transform them into strategic units of information,” Manolis Kontos, the firm’s Managing Director, says.

“For over 100 years, our clients have been coming to us for innovation, style and exceptional service.​”

Lykos is no-stranger to the continent’s elections. The firm printed the ballot papers that were used in the Nigerian presidential election in 2019.

Meanwhile, the IEBC also revealed that the commission submitted 16,000 names of various candidates cleared to vie for various elective seats to the government printer on June 30. 

According to Wafula Chebukati, the government printer will finalize the gazettement by Thursday, having encountered issues earlier.