We are pleased to announce that we represented the Kenya Human Rights Commission in a human rights/election-related case before Honourable Justice Antony Mrima to compel the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to make provision for Kenyans living in the Diaspora who are scheduled to vote in the upcoming election but are in countries that are in drastically different time zones from Kenya, be able to vote during the day.
In the 2022 elections, Kenyans living in the following twelve countries, shall be able to cast their vote for President: Burundi, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, South Africa, United Kingdom, Canada, United States of America, South Sudan, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Germany, which is an increase from five countries in the 2017 election.
However, Regulation 66 (3) of the Elections (Registration of Voters) Regulations 2012 provides that voting in Kenya and for the diaspora shall commence at 6 O’clock in the morning until 5 O’clock in the afternoon Kenyan time, which means that polling in the areas such as the United States of America and Canada shall be done at night from 7 PM to 9 AM (depending on the location of the voting centre), which means that many registered voters residing in the United States of America and Canada, will probably be unable to vote.
We argued that the strict interpretation of Regulation 66 of the Election (Registration of Voters) Regulations 2012 will cause unnecessary hardship to Kenyans living in the diaspora, particularly to women, and/or parents with young families as the availability of reliable and affordable childcare services for night-time is likely to be difficult and expensive.
The Court agreed with us that the current interpretation of Regulation 66 (3) in these two countries would negatively affect the ability of Kenyans, particularly women to participate in the election, an affront to the principle of universal suffrage; and Justice Mrima ruled that the IEBC do make provisions to enable all Kenyans voters living in the diaspora be able to vote during the day on the voting day of 9th August.
28|07|2022