Election Offences in Kenya: What Agents Must Watch for on Election Day

Kenya's Elections Act defines nine categories of election offences — and party agents are the first line of defence in detecting them. Understanding what constitutes an offence, and the penalties involved, is essential for every agent deployed on election day.

The ORPP Agents Quick Guide (June 2022) published by the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties outlines the election offences that agents should watch for. These offences are drawn from the Elections Act and carry serious criminal penalties. Here is what every agent must know.

The Nine Categories of Election Offences

1. Voting-Related Offences

These are the most common offences that agents will encounter at polling stations:

• Voting more than once — attempting to cast a ballot at more than one polling station or more than once at the same station
• Impersonation — presenting yourself as another registered voter
• Taking a ballot paper outside the station — removing an issued ballot from the polling premises
• Inserting unauthorized papers into the ballot box — stuffing fake or additional ballots

2. IEBC Staff Offences

Election officials are held to strict standards. Offences by IEBC staff include:

• Altering or falsifying election returns — changing vote tallies or result forms
• Dereliction of duty — failing to carry out prescribed election procedures
• Willful obstruction — deliberately preventing voters from casting ballots
• Issuing ballot papers to unauthorized persons

3. Secrecy Violations

The secrecy of the ballot is a constitutional right. Offences include:

• Revealing how a voter marked their ballot — whether by the voter themselves under coercion or by an official who observed the marking
• Breaking the Oath of Secrecy — officials, agents, and assistants who take the oath and then violate it
• Attempting to discover how a person voted — by examining ballot papers or through surveillance

4. Personation

Personation is a specific offence distinct from general impersonation. It involves:

• Applying for a ballot paper in the name of another person — whether that person is living, dead, or fictitious
• Voting as another person after fraudulently obtaining a ballot paper

Agents who suspect personation should immediately notify the Presiding Officer and record the details.

5. Bribery

Bribery is one of the most serious election offences and includes:

• Offering money, gifts, or favours in exchange for a vote or for abstaining from voting
• Receiving a bribe to vote in a particular way
• Promising future benefits (employment, contracts, appointments) in exchange for votes

6. Undue Influence

Undue influence involves non-physical pressure applied to voters:

• Threats of harm — threatening violence, loss of employment, or social consequences if a person votes a certain way
• Intimidation — creating an atmosphere of fear to suppress voting or influence choice
• Spiritual or religious threats — using religious authority to dictate voting behaviour
• Economic coercion — threatening business relationships or access to resources

7. Use of Force or Violence

Physical force at or near a polling station is a criminal offence:

• Physical assault of voters, agents, officials, or observers
• Destruction of election materials — damaging ballot boxes, KIEMS kits, or result forms
• Forceful disruption of the voting or counting process
• Armed presence — carrying weapons at or near a polling station (except authorized security officers)

8. Misuse of Security Organs

This offence targets state actors who weaponize security forces:

• Deploying state security (police, military, intelligence) to influence election outcomes
• Using security forces to intimidate voters, candidates, or agents
• Denying security to certain polling stations or candidates to create chaos

9. Technology Offences

With the introduction of electronic systems, technology-related offences are now specifically addressed:

• Interfering with the KIEMS kit — tampering with the biometric or results transmission device
• Hacking or manipulating the electronic results transmission system
• Unauthorized access to IEBC electronic systems
• Deliberate disruption of the technology infrastructure used in elections

Penalties Summary

The Agent's Role in Detecting Offences

Agents are not law enforcement officers. They cannot arrest or physically stop an offence. However, agents have a critical role:

1. Observe and document — record the time, nature, and persons involved in any suspected offence
2. Notify the Presiding Officer — formally report the incident to the PO at the station
3. Record in your notebook — maintain a written record that can serve as evidence
4. Report to your party hierarchy — escalate through your party's election-day communication chain
5. Do not confront — agents should not physically intervene or confront offenders

For agents using Votrack, the incident reporting feature allows real-time submission of offence reports with timestamps, photos, and location data. This creates a digital evidence trail that can be used in election petitions and criminal proceedings.

CTA: Arm your agents with the knowledge to identify every category of election offence. Request a Votrack demo to see how real-time incident reporting works on election day.