[IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati. His powers might be trimmed if the Jubilee Bill pushes through.] (Photo/Thestar)
The electoral commission will have its powers clipped, if the proposed law by the Jubilee Party is passed into law.
The contentious bill, which was tabled in parliament on Thursday, will also seek to put more reliance on the manual system of transmitting results.
Another key component of the Bill will make it possible for the vice chairman of the IEBC to act as the chairman in the absence of the substantive chairman, and members of the commission will elect one of them as chairman in the absence of both the chair and the vice chair.
After the bungled August polls, the Jubilee Party felt the Supreme ruling was unjust in their decision, and want the manual transmission to take precedence in case of a conflict.
The Bill further wants to Uhuru Kenyatta declared the winner in the October 26 repeat elections if Nasa flagbearer Raila Odinga decides to skip the polls.
Further, the Bills says presiding officers and returning officers who fail to fill in the result forms properly will face dire consequences, with a jail term of five years with no option on a fine.
Nasa leaders agrued that the proposed Bill is unconstitutional, but Jubilee, buoyed by their majority numbers pushed it through.
The Bill, which has been sponsored by Baringo North MP William Cheptumo, has 11 clauses and runs into 15 pages.
The pushing through of the Bill by the Jubilee Party led to the NASA team meeting with the IEBC and Jubilee to walk out, saying they will not participate in the election with the latest development.
The August 8 election was nullified by the Supreme Court, on grounds that the process of transmitting and tallying of figures was not transparent.