IEBC officials at the Mokowe arid zone constituency tallying centre in Lamu West. [Photo/ barakafm.org]
Vote tallying in Lamu County was on Friday delayed due to security concerns.The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) as at Friday morning had not tallied results from 15 out of the 45 polling stations in Lamu.Addressing journalists on Friday, Lamu East IEBC Returning Officer Japheth Omara said that the affected polling stations are located in terror-prone regions including Kiunga and Basuba.Omara also noted that they had only been able to count and announce presidential results from 30 of the polling stations in the county. He further said that they experienced challenges when it came to the transportation of the ballot boxes from the two areas, forcing them to wait for a chopper.“We have so far managed to count votes from 30 polling stations out of the 45 in the county. We would have completed the tallying exercise but as you are aware; our staff in Basuba and Kiunga couldn’t travel at night due to the unpredictable security situation in the area. A chopper will go to ferry them this morning. We expect the tallying exercise in the entire constituency to end this morning,” said Omara, as quoted by Baraka FM. The repeat presidential election attracted a low voter turnout following the withdrawal of NASA leader Raila Odinga from the race.Raila urged his supporters to boycott the election arguing there was no need of participating in an already predetermined exercise.