A group of activists has moved to the High Court in Nakuru seeking to overhaul Kenya’s electoral rules for most elective positions. Their petition aims to ensure that candidates for governor, senator, MP, and MCA must receive more than 50 per cent of the total votes cast before they can be declared winners.
Currently, Kenya uses the First-Past-The-Post system, where the candidate with the highest number of votes wins regardless of whether they have majority support. The activists say this method allows leaders who are rejected by most voters to assume office, undermining democratic legitimacy.
The petition was filed by three public interest litigators; Laban Omusundi, Basele Galgesa, and Benson Olwande, who are challenging the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission and the Attorney-General. They want the court to require run-off elections if no candidate reaches the majority threshold.
“In presidential elections, if none of the candidates attains the 50 per cent plus one vote threshold, the top two candidates are required to go for a runoff. But this has never occurred since 2013, when the first polls were held under the 2010 Constitution,” the petition notes.
The petitioners argue that applying a majority requirement only to the presidency while exempting other elective posts creates a gap in democratic standards.
They say leaders can be elected with just 22 to 34 per cent of votes, leaving the majority of voters unrepresented.
They cite the recent Mbeere North parliamentary by-election as an example. The winner, Leo Wamuthende, received 15,802 out of 34,134 votes, less than half of the total ballots cast.
Yet under the law, he was declared the winner, even though over 18,000 voters had chosen other candidates.
“Despite lacking the majority endorsement, such candidates exercise full sovereign authority over the electorate,” the petition states. The activists contend that sovereign authority cannot be divided into minority mandates at the county and legislative levels while demanding majority support for the presidency.
They are urging the court to issue an interim declaration stating that all holders of elective office must exercise authority with the backing of a majority of voters, in line with democratic principles.
