Homa Bay gubernatorial poll materials scrutinised

Deputy Register of the Homa Bay High Court Lester Simiyu holds a ballot paper used in the Homa Bay gubernatorial election in August 8 election during recount and scrutiny of voting materials on January 9, 2018. PHOTO | BARACK ODUOR | NATION MEDIA GROUP

Recount of votes in the Homa Bay governorship election continued Wednesday with scrutiny of poll materials revealing discrepancies.

The recount was ordered by the High Court in an election petition filed by former Kasipul MP Oyugi Magwanga against Governor Cyprian Awiti.

One ballot box had a crack while another had no form 37A.

The cracked ballot box was for Pundo Kalanya polling station while a ballot box for St Patrick’s Makongeni lacked form 37A.

BALLOT BOX

According to the commission’s lawyer Fredrick Orego, the ballot boxes could have been affected during their transportation and storage.

“The missing form 37A or a crack on a ballot box could have been resulted from their transportation and storage,” said lawyer Orego.

Lawyers in the case agreed that the integrity of the voting materials in the cracked ballot box could be compromised given the nature of the hole.

The recount done for Ndhiwa Constituency revealed inconsistencies in figures.

Number of votes accorded to candidates in the contest during announcement of results were not the ones found after the recount.

“The recount and scrutiny exercise has proved the commission did a good job devoid of serious mistakes,” said lawyer Orego.

In Okok Primary School, Mr Magwanga got 245 while Mr Awiti got 176 as announced by the electoral commission after the election, while the recount of the same votes casted indicated that Mr Awiti got 178 while Mr Magwanga got 245.

MISTAKES

The exercise was marred with stalemate when lawyers in the case disagreed on how to conduct the process.

Mr Magwanga’s lawyer Humprey Obach questioned the authenticity of the forms and ballot papers in the ballot boxes, forcing the lawyers to halt the process for hours.

“We had to ensure that the exercise is devoid of mistakes by ensuring the authenticity of forms and ballot materials in the process,” he said.

The constant stalemate in the process made deputy registrar of the high court Ms Lester Simiyu to ask the lawyers in the matter to agree, by following orders issued by Justice Joseph Karanja over the exercise.

“If there is party not satisfied with the process then they can make a report and it is shall be accompanied with the final report over the exercise which will be presented to the judge,” she said.