This archive report was first published on 23 July 2019.
On July 23, 2019, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) responded to concerns raised by the Elections Observation Group (Elog) regarding the verification process of signatures collected by Ekuru Aukot's Thirdway Alliance Party in the Punguza Mizigo referendum drive.
According to Elog, the IEBC's approval of the signatures raised several issues, including alleged duplication of signatures. The group claimed that some signatures were uniform, raising questions about their authenticity and reliability.
IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati, however, dismissed the authenticity query, stating that the commission's responsibility is to verify whether all the appended signatures are by registered voters, a requirement that had been met.
Article 257(4) of the Constitution requires the commission to verify that a popular initiative is signed by at least one million registered voters. Chebukati noted that the commission was not verifying the authenticity of the signatures but confirming that they are registered voters.
Elog also claimed that there was duplication of ID numbers in the forms submitted by Aukot. In response, IEBC admitted that there was duplication of ID/Passport numbers but noted that only one record of the same was maintained per supporter.
IEBC further stated that while there were cases of missing records as claimed by Elog, no incomplete record was used for the purpose of establishing the requisite one million signatures.
The electoral body also insisted that the names and signatures collected in the Punguza Mizigo referendum drive had been made public, with the list of supporters published on the commission's website on April 18, 2019, for a period of 21 days.
