Areas where violence against electoral commission officers has been reported in the past week could be left out in Thursday’s repeat polls.
This, states IEBC, is a provision in law that allows the commission to leave out certain areas from polling in case there is breach of peace.
Areas likely to be singled out of the Thursday election are parts of Siaya, Kisumu, Vihiga, Homa Bay and Migori counties.
Officials of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) have been attacked continuously in their training centres by National Super Alliance (NASA) supporters.
They are following orders from their leaders that there will be no polls on October 26.
However, IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati yesterday told Daily Nation that “We [IEBC] shall invoke provisions of the law, specifically Section 55 (B) of the Elections Act read together with Article 138 (2) of the Constitution in such circumstances. The environment is not conducive.
The commission will tactfully employ Section 55 (B) in seeking a legal way out of the hostility witnessed against its officials in Nyanza and some parts of Western Kenya.
“Of essence in invoking section 55B, the Commission should be able to announce a new date for the affected areas, ideally any date within seven days but where this is not attainable, then the Commission will be required to determine thereof whether the results can rightly be declared without conduct of the postponed elections and if at all this would then qualify as a legitimate election,” he added.
This Section 55 (B) allows IEBC to call of an election in case of a natural disaster, electoral malpractice with the intensity to stop an election from proceeding or in case of breach of peace.
But, he said, he has written to the Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet because “[he] wouldn’t want a single employee of IEBC injured or property of transporters destroyed because of the elections.”