Opposition mounts as National Assembly moves to scrap mandatory livestreaming of poll results

IEBC chairperson Erastus Ethekon speaks to the media after he held a security briefing with the Homa Bay County Security team in Kasipul on November 26, 2025. (Photo: X/Erastus Ethekon)

The proposed changes seeking to remove the legal requirement for the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission to livestream results as they are announced at polling stations have been met with strong opposition, raising questions about transparency and public scrutiny ahead of the 2027 General Election.

The proposals have ushered in an intriguing debate about the 2027 General Election following the National Assembly’s passage of the Elections (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill, 2024, which seeks to remove the legal requirement for the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to livestream election results from polling stations.

The decision, made on Thursday, October 22, 2026, could change how Kenyans, political parties, election observers and journalists follow the counting and transmission of votes during the next General Election.

Former Chief Justice David Maraga has opposed the proposed changes, noting that the Constitution requires Kenya’s electoral system to uphold accuracy, verifiability, security, accountability and transparency.

“The Constitution is clear. The electoral system must be ‘accurate, verifiable, secure, accountable and transparent’. No law is superior to our Katiba,” Maraga stated.

He said he would work with the People’s Coalition for Electoral Reforms to oppose any attempts to roll back electoral transparency, warning against a return to the electoral environment associated with the former Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK).

He cited the 2007/08 post-election violence, arguing that protecting the integrity of the electoral process was critical to safeguarding the will of voters.

“We will be relentless in protecting the integrity of our electoral process, including live streaming of results,” he said.

The Bill, which was approved by the Senate in December 2024 before being forwarded to the National Assembly, seeks to amend Section 39 of the Elections Act, which governs the determination, transmission and declaration of election results.

At the centre of the debate is a provision requiring the IEBC to establish a mechanism for livestreaming results as they are announced at polling stations.

Removing this requirement would mean the commission would no longer be legally compelled under that provision to livestream the announcements. However, it would not necessarily prevent the IEBC from providing live broadcasts voluntarily.

The proposed amendments seek to remove the express legal requirement for livestreaming while retaining provisions requiring the IEBC to determine, declare and publish election results immediately after polling closes.

The distinction is important because livestreaming, electronic transmission and online publication serve different purposes in the electoral process.

Livestreaming allows the public to watch results being announced at polling stations in real time.

Justine Muturi, former Attorney General and now one of Ruto’s critics, expressed his opposition, noting that his Democratic Party unequivocally opposes any legislative proposal seeking to weaken electoral transparency by removing safeguards for the live transmission of election results.

“Kenyans did not fight for multiparty democracy to be subjected to an electoral process shrouded in secrecy,” he said in a statement on Friday.

According to Muturi, any attempt to weaken public scrutiny of election results is an affront to the spirit of constitutional democracy and must be resisted through every lawful parliamentary and constitutional avenue.

“Elections belong to the people, not the government, and no administration should treat transparency as a threat to its political interests,” he said.

Electronic transmission moves results through the electoral system, while an online portal enables citizens to access and examine published results documents.

The proposed changes would therefore remove one form of public access without automatically ending electronic transmission or online publication of results.

The framework also retains procedures for transmitting presidential election results, verifying figures and publishing polling-station results forms.

Results declared at polling stations would remain final under the proposed wording, while the IEBC would continue to perform its constitutional responsibilities in tallying and declaring presidential results.

The removal of the livestreaming requirement does not, by itself, mean presidential results would be determined without electronic transmission or verification.

However, how the results are transmitted, verified, published and compared with the figures announced at polling stations would remain central to public confidence in the process.

Livestreaming allows voters, political parties, journalists and election observers to follow the announcement of results as it happens.

It can help the public compare figures announced at polling stations with those subsequently transmitted, tallied and declared at higher levels.

The debate is particularly sensitive in Kenya, where electoral transparency and the credibility of presidential results have remained major public concerns since the disputed 2007 General Election.

During the parliamentary debate, Suba South MP Caroli Omondi raised concerns about changes to the presidential results framework, arguing that Parliament needed to carefully examine how presidential results are tallied, verified and communicated to the public.

Critics of removing the livestreaming requirement argue that it could reduce the public’s ability to monitor results announcements in real time.

They have questioned whether relying on electronic transmission and published result forms alone would provide the same level of immediate public scrutiny. The central question is whether the remaining safeguards will provide sufficient and timely access to results, even without a mandatory live feed.

The next steps in the legislative process will determine the Bill’s final legal status and the framework that will govern the 2027 polls.

In July, the IEBC came out to dismiss reports claiming it intends to ban the livestreaming of election results during the 2027 General Election.