NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 22— The High Court has upheld the national aggregation and verification of presidential election results, dismissing a challenge by Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah against the process.

📻 Breaking It Down

The court upheld Section 39(1C) of the Elections Act and Regulation 83(2) of the Elections (General) Regulations, which provide for the aggregation and verification of presidential results at the national level.

Omtatah had challenged the establishment and operation of the national tallying centre, arguing that the Constitution gives constituency returning officers the primary and final responsibility for tallying, verifying and declaring presidential results.

He had also sought orders barring the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) from re-tallying or re-verifying presidential results after their declaration at constituency level.

📌 What You Need to Know

The court, however, found that national aggregation is necessary to determine whether a presidential candidate has met the constitutional threshold required to win the election.

Under Article 138(4) of the Constitution, a presidential candidate must secure more than half of all votes cast and at least 25 per cent of the votes cast in more than half of Kenya’s counties.

The judges said the two-tier threshold can only be established through national aggregation of presidential results.

“A national aggregation and confirmation exercise is accordingly not an arbitrary extra burden imposed on presidential candidates or voters,” the court held.

The judges described the national exercise as a “necessary and rational corollary” of the Constitution’s unique threshold for election as President.

The court also rejected arguments that national tallying amounts to discriminatory treatment contrary to Article 27 of the Constitution.

📰 Source: Capital FM Kenya