The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission has once again won a case in which three voters wanted it to announce presidential results within seven hours after closure of polling stations.
The petition was thrown out by the High Court on Monday, after failing to demonstrate that it was a constitutional requirement to announce the outcome within the seven hours.
The three; Titus Alila, Jackline Otieno and Francis Ogada wanted the court to order the IEBC to announce the results without delays to avoid anxiety among the population.
“IEBC has the discretion and flexibility to announce presidential results within the time prescribed by Article 138(10) of the constitution which states that they are to announce results within seven days,” said Justice avid Majanja.
“The court will only intervene where it is clearly demonstrated that there is violation of the Constitution, it follows that that the petition must now be dismissed,” he added.
The petitioners had argued that their petition was in the public interest since Kenyans have invested Sh3.8 billion in the Kenya Integrated Election Management System (KIEMS) to ensure fast electronic transmission of results from polling stations to the national tallying centre.
“Assuming the provisional presidential results are not announced within seven hours, it is not clear how each of the rights enumerated in the constitution may be violated by IEBC,” said Justice Majanja.
This is another victory for the electoral agency, and comes a few days after yet another victory in the corridors of justice.
Nasa lost their case against the agency, where they wanted the printing of presidential ballot papers stoppe.