Why most election petitions were struck out

A majority of the dismissed poll petitions were anchored on electronic result transmission failures - which did not have any effects on the outcome - and claims that had no substantial proof.

Only three gubernatorial elections have been nullified out of 35 cases filed in various courts, while cases challenging election of 15 senators have been dismissed.

Out of 98 MPs whose wins were challenged, only seven have been dethroned even as one woman representative also lost her seat out of 12 cases in the affirmative position.

The statistics show how defective most of the cases were due to lack of enough evidence to prove claims of rigging.

In Kisumu, former Governor Jack Ranguma told the court that Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) servers were interfered with, citing deletion of result forms to alter the outcome of the election in favour of Governor Anyang' Nyongó. 

"Even if I accept the testimony of PW 4 that the results in the IEBC server were manipulated, that fact does not change the substance of the Forms 37A received by the Constituency Returning Officers. In essence, the evidence of PW 4 does not assist the petitioner’s case," ruled Justice David Majanja.

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“The allegations made by the petitioner are vague and embarrassing. Such vagueness is not cured by stating in the petition that the grounds, information and evidence are detailed in the supporting affidavits,” declared the judge.

Over-voting

In Machakos, Justice Aggrey Muchelule ruled that Wavinya Ndeti failed to provide evidence that her agents were denied entry to polling stations. Her claims that Governor Alfred Mutua used county employees to work for him in the election could also not be substantiated.

In Siaya, Nicholas Gumbo's petition against Cornel Rasanga was thrown out after scrutiny of the votes requested by Gumbo confirmed that there was no over-voting.

“During the scrutiny of the votes which was conducted by the court’s registrar, the petitioner’s (Gumbo) votes reduced by 2,033 while Rasanga’s increased by 3,949,” said Justice Esther Maina.

The judge also stated that the evidence provided by Gumbo to prove that Rasanga used relief food to woo voters fell short of the standards required.

On the other hand, nullification of some of the elections has exposed intricate tactics used by politicians to steal the August 8 General Election.

Cases of "strange" ballot papers, conflicting figures in result forms, tallying of votes from non-existent polling stations and omission of results from some stations are some of the reasons three governors, a woman representative, seven MPs and a host of Members of County Assemblies were dethroned.

The court findings have also shone spotlight on the IEBC's incompetence and in some cases collusion between its officers and candidates in the elections.

In Embu gubernatorial election, there were about 566 unaccounted for ballot papers, 111 ballots which did not come from IEBC ballot booklets while another 4,000 votes had their counterfoils missing.

The vote recount showed the difference between Governor Martin Wambora and his challenger Lenny Kivuti was between 700 and 800 votes.

“Are the irregularities identified through the scrutiny likely to affect the result?

"I have noted that the non-compliance with regard to the unaccounted ballots affects ballots in the region of 566 votes, while that relating to missing counterfoils affects ballots in the region of 4,000 votes, while those relating to missing or illegible Forms 37A are in excess of 10,000 votes

"Looking at all these figures globally there is no doubt that the irregularities would affect the final results of the election,” ruled Justice Musyoka while annulling Wambora’s win.

In Homa Bay, Governor Cyprian Awiti’s win was nullified after it emerged that there were two sets of winners based on IEBC documents presented before the courts.

Results declared at the polling stations were also different from those declared at the constituency tallying centres and at the county’s.

“It is beyond peradventure that what 'broke the camel’s back' in this matter is the existence of two sets of result forms originating from the first respondent. In one set of results, the third respondent (Awiti) emerged as the 'winner' and in the other set, the first petitioner (Oyugi Magwanga) emerged as 'winner',” declared Justice Karanja.

Governor Mohamed Abdi (Wajir) was dethroned for lack of academic papers. One is required to have a university degree to run for governor position.

In Elgeyo Marakwet Constituency, it emerged there were two ungazetted polling stations – Embokala Nursery School and Ketmekinget Health Centre – whose votes were tallied to determine the winner.

The dethroned MP, Bowen Kangogo, defeated former legislator Linah Kilimo by 967 votes.

The total votes cast were 29,573 while those captured in form 34B were 30,214 votes.

“This was a close contest. I said the margin of votes between the candidates was only 967 votes. I remain alive that our electoral system remains first past the post. But the irregularities here cast doubt on the numbers,” ruled Judge Kanyi Kimondo in Eldoret.

In Embakasi East where Babu Owino lost his seat after a petition by his rival Francis Mureithi, vote recount showed 46,817 for the ousted controversial politician against 42,502.

IEBC declared Owino the winner in last August's election with 46,587 votes while Francis Mureithi got 42,501 votes. The outcome was annulled because of violence and massive irregularities.

Six-piece

In Ugenya, MP Chris Karan lost his seat after the courts established cases of irregularities where voters were “assisted” to cast their ballots in "six-piece" format.

The politician also campaigned past the stipulated campaign period. “The petitioner has also established that presiding officers were coerced, intimidated and bullied by the third respondent (Karan) and ODM agents...,” ruled the judge.

Nandi Hills MP Alfred Keter was also thrown out for campaigning past the provided campaign period.

In Turkana, Woman Rep Joyce Emanikor lost her seat for using relief vote in hunting for votes. It also emerged that results in Forms 34As, IEBC portal and the gazette results did not match.