Moses Kuria proposes dual presidential vote tallies ahead of 2027 elections

Former senior economic adviser to President William Ruto, Moses Kuria, has proposed that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) publish both verified and unverified presidential election results to improve transparency in the 2027 General Election.

Kuria said the commission should livestream the verification of physical results forms at the National Tallying Centre while simultaneously publishing an unverified tally based on electronic results submitted from constituencies.

He argued that the dual system would allow Kenyans and election observers to compare the figures transmitted electronically with those verified using hard-copy forms.

In a statement, Kuria said his proposal was informed by his experience at national tallying centres during previous presidential elections.

“Allow me to weigh in on the Presidential Results Livestreaming debate. I was present throughout the tallying process at KICC in 2007 and Bomas of Kenya in 2013, 2017 and 2022. As such, I feel I owe the nation a historical perspective,” he said.

Kuria said livestreaming the verification process alone would not be sufficient to address concerns over the handling and announcement of presidential results.

He proposed that the IEBC publish provisional figures as constituency results arrive, even as officials continue verifying the corresponding physical forms at the national tallying centre.

“We need all results livestreamed as the hard copy Form 34s get verified at the National Tallying Centre. But this is not enough,” Kuria said.

He added that the commission should maintain two separate tallies for each constituency, distinguishing between figures generated from electronic submissions and those confirmed through physical documentation.

“As IEBC receives the individual results from the Constituencies, they need to run an unverified national tally at the time of updating the public portal,” he said.

“So we will have two tallies for Presidential results per constituency - Verified and Unverified. The former based on electronic forms and the latter based on hard copies.”

Kuria said the arrangement would give voters and observers an opportunity to identify any discrepancies between the two sets of figures during the tallying process.

He referred to “Jose Camargo” in describing the possibility of interference or irregularities during the handling of results, without providing further details about the reference.

“Then Kenyans and observers can judge whether there is any Jose Camargo in the middle,” he said.

Kuria further proposed that the country consider relying entirely on electronic results for the 2032 General Election if the proposed comparison in 2027 demonstrates that the electronic tally is reliable.

“If there is none in 2027, we run 2032 based purely on electronic forms and save the country that meaningless drama at Bomas,” he said.

His proposal places the transparency of presidential results transmission and verification at the centre of preparations for the next election.

The IEBC has a central role in receiving, verifying and announcing presidential election results. The handling of results forms and the process used to reconcile figures are critical to maintaining public confidence in the outcome.

Under Kuria’s proposal, the publication of provisional electronic figures would allow the public to follow the tally as it develops, while the verification of physical forms would provide a separate basis for confirming the official results.

However, the proposal would require the commission to establish clear procedures for displaying the two tallies, explaining discrepancies and identifying when figures become verified and official.