IEBC controversially used the second set of forms 34A book, Judiciary report reveals

IEBC controversially used the second set of forms 34A to enter presidential results instead of 34A of book 1.

The Judiciary report reveals that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) used the second set of results transmission forms that it resolved with political parties to seal in tamper-proof envelopes prior to the August 9, 2022, Presidential election.

IEBC Chairperson Wafula Chebukati prior to the August elections was accused of secretly printing a second set of the results transmission forms, which show votes garnered by each candidate at polling stations.

Political parties protested the printing of the second set of forms, prompting the IEBC to call them for a consultative meeting.

In the meeting, it was resolved that the second set of forms would not be used in the elections but sealed in tamper-proof envelopes.

However, during the scrutiny of 15 polling stations ordered by the Supreme Court, it was revealed that IEBC controversially used the second set of forms 34A book 2.

In the report, the Judiciary team says it found nine polling stations where the second set of results forms was used, some of which had discrepancies in their tallying.

The 15 polling stations are in Nandi, Kericho, Mombasa, and Nyandarua. Some tallying discrepancies were noted after the vote recount.

The report states that another six polling stations failed to provide their sets of forms 34A book two.

“Some returning officers explained the absence of form 34A book 2 by indicating that the presiding officers used them instead of form 34 book 1.

“In such cases, the team verified the information by looking for the form 34A book 1 to confirm if it was indeed intact for purposes of accountability. The reason given by some returning officers is that some presiding officers mistook the two books because they did not understand the procedure,” the report states.

“Other returning officers had no explanation for the absence of form 34A book 2. They indicated that they had just learned of the anomaly together with the scrutiny. The Kiambaa constituency returning officer explained that her presiding officer used book 2 because he had spoilt book 1. They, however, did not provide the spoilt form 34A book 1 for the team’s scrutiny, and the PSD did not indicate that the form 34A book 2 had been spoilt,” the report further states.

The second set of forms 34A sampled were from Kericho, Kiambu, Bomet, and Kakamega constituencies.