Parliament has taken a big step that could change how Kenyans follow election results. On Thursday, October 22, the National Assembly passed the Elections (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill, 2024. The Bill removes the legal requirement that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) livestream results as they are announced at polling stations. With the 2027 General Election coming up, the decision has already got people talking in offices, matatus and online groups across the country.
The Bill started in the Senate as Senate Bill No. 29 of 2024, and it was sponsored by Majority Leader Kimani Ichung'wah and Minority Leader Junet Mohamed. Its main goal is to put into law some of the recommendations from the National Dialogue Committee, popularly known as NADCO, and to amend several sections of the Elections Act, 2011. The clause causing the most noise is Clause 22, which proposes changes to Section 39 of the Act. That section deals with how election results are counted, sent and officially declared.
Not everyone is happy with the move. Critics say live streaming is one of the few ways ordinary wananchi can check results as they happen. When voters, political parties, journalists and observers can watch the announcements at a polling station and later compare them with the figures that reach the tallying centres, it becomes harder for anyone to tamper with results quietly. Taking away that requirement, they argue, opens the door to suspicion. Kenyans still remember how tense past elections have been, and many of them do not want to leave anything to chance.
The IEBC is not being pushed out of the process entirely, though. Under the new wording, the commission will still be responsible for electronically transmitting results, verifying the figures and publishing polling-station result forms on an online public portal. So the transmission and publishing work continues. What changes is that the law will no longer force the commission to livestream results at every polling station as they are read out.
The Bill also deals with the recall of elected leaders. The National Assembly approved a rule that a Member of Parliament can only be recalled if at least one-third of registered voters in every ward within the constituency support it. For senators, the same threshold would apply to every constituency in the affected county. Once a recall happens, a simple majority of the people who turn up to vote in the by-election would decide who wins the seat.
Other parts of the Bill touch on voter registration, how polling stations are designated, how political parties nominate their candidates and the general running of elections. Small changes in election law often have big effects on how an election turns out, so these sections will need a close look from Kenyans and their leaders alike.
So what happens next? The Bill now goes back to the Senate, which has to consider the amendments the National Assembly made. Only after both Houses agree on the final text can it move on to the President for assent. Until then, nothing is final. The 2027 election is still a while away, but the rules being set today will shape how it is run and how it is watched. Kenyans should keep an eye on this one.
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