Kenya Elections 2013

[JCMach1]

Am live blogging from my perch in Nairobi... I will be posting updates on DU and you can follow me here

http://rationalista.com
http://storify.com/usa2uae/kenya-election-2013

and on Twitter @usa2uae.com


The polls opened at 6AM this morning, but people began getting in line last night in some regions. I have NEVER EVER seen the lines like what are being seen here. It is putting the US to Shame. This is the line outside my window (2-3 miles long)

4-10 Police were killed overnight. 4 were hacked to death in Mombassa per KTN by MRC (coastal separatist terrorists).

An ex-MPs car was set on fire in Kakamega in the west of the country.

The good news with the lines is that everyone who is still there at 6PM will still be allowed to vote.

I know the above sounds bad, but things are relatively peaceful up to now.

[JCMach1]

1. Major Candidates have now voted and lines are going down just a bit

... there will be a second rush during late afternoon.

Lesson for the USA... MAKE ELECTION DAY A MANDATORY HOLIDAY.

[JCMach1]

2. Polls begin to close at 5PM... just a few minutes away

People who are in line at that time are allowed to vote. After that, it's just tallying the votes and waiting for the hopefully peaceful aftermath.

[ProSense]

3. Fascinating. Thanks for posting. n/t

[JCMach1]

4. Kenyatta up 57 to 38 for Odinga

Witjh about 10% reporting

[apocalypsehow]

5. Very interesting - thanks for blogging about it. And stay safe! Kick, Rec.

[JCMach1]

6. Kenyatta still 55 to 40

With 18% reporting... Gonna go into tomorrow... Slow reporting

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

7. Thanks for posting.

[JCMach1]

8. Counting continues this AM it is Kenyatta 54 to 40 for Odinga

It should tighten, but it is looking more and more like Kenyatta will score a victory in the first round and avoid a run-off.

[JCMach1]

9. 88% voter turnout... Imagine if we had that in 2012 for Obama

Would there be any Republicans left in Congress?

[muriel_volestrangler]

10. Thanks for the in-country report

I didn't know you were there now. How's the violence? The BBC says 19 killed on Monday. Is Kenyatta's ICC indictment seen as a problem there? You'd think it would make him unable to leave the country.

[JCMach1]

12. The coast (Mombassa) was very scary

according to my friend who arrived back election eve.

Nairobi and the rest of the country is probably more peaceful than on a regular day as almost everyone is staying home.

That can change as it is going to be very close whether there will be a run-off.

[treestar]

11. Makes me realize how lucky I am

Not to have to stand in line for hours to vote (though I know it does happen here).

[JCMach1]

13. Kenyatta 54, Odinga 42 14:58 CAT

It is clear things will be really close as to whether there will be a run-off. If Kenyatta just nudges 50% there could be some bit problems upcoming.

[JCMach1]

14. Things are getting serious... the IEBC has stopped the provisional count due to 'technical' issues

Black Box voting anyone?

There is a huge question of the 'spoiled' votes . In Kenya's constitution this should most likely be counted in terms of the percentage for determining 50% +1.

Officials with 'official' results are supposed to begin arriving in the Bomas of Kenya.

Rumors are flying around Kenya at the moment, especially after the stolen election in 2008.




Personally am continuing to hunker-down for the duration.

[JCMach1]

15. Still no counting going on... rumors and suspicions grow

@9:42 CAT on 3/6

3 days since the vote and no results.

[JCMach1]

16. Uhuru Kenyatt running mate William Ruto is blaming the British High Commission

for 'sinister' interference in the count.

Not even British, but he just made things a lot dicier for me to be here.

[JCMach1]

17. Link for British interference story is here

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/kenya/9912353/Uhuru-Kenyatta-accuses-British-envoy-of-shadowy-sinister-role-in-Kenya-election.html

Britain's High Commissioner to Kenya has a "shadowy, sinister" involvement in the country's election and is "canvassing to deny outright victory" to Uhuru Kenyatta, the leading presidential candidate, Mr Kenyatta's team said on Wednesday... They also demanded answers from Christian Turner, the British High Commissioner in Nairobi, over claims of an "abnormally high influx of British military personnel in the country which began around voting day".
Mr Kenyatta, standard-bearer of the Jubilee Alliance, still leads his main rival, Raila Odinga, as counting of votes cast in Monday's knife-edge election continued into a third day on Wednesday.
The number of rejected ballots is becoming crucial to the result, and technical arguments on whether they should be included in final tallies is consuming the increasingly chaotic count process...

[JCMach1]

18. Official, manual count is continuing... but there is a huge discrepancy between the spoiled votes

in the unofficial electronic count which was halted and the official results. 10x in fact

Problems could be in the offing... Odinga has a presser in a bit... will update later as the media is not reporting this live.

All of this is NOT good.

[JCMach1]

19. Kalonzo and Odinga accuse IEBC (election authority)

of massive irregularities.

The CORD alliance is currently holding a critical presser. The are stating they are filing a lawsuit to stop the count immediately.

IT is not being covered live by the Kenya media.

Things, I am afraid, are downhill from here.

[JCMach1]

20. results tonight

Results expected tonight. It is squeaker

[muriel_volestrangler]

21. Programming error led to the number of rejected votes being multiplied by a factor of eight

One of these was a programming error, which led to the number of rejected votes being multiplied by a factor of eight.

This meant more than 330,000 votes - 6% - were initially rejected - enough to change the course of the election.

The electronic system was abandoned, and the process of tallying results from the country's 32,000 polling stations was restarted by hand on Wednesday.

The number of rejected votes is now about 1% of total votes cast.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21711391

And Kenyatta had 49.9% of the vote, with 80% declared, at the time was published.

[JCMach1]

22. Kenyatta wins by 4100 votes

Now we have to see if he can win the peace.