KIEMS Kit and Biometric Voter Verification: What Agents Need to Know

The Kenya Integrated Election Management System (KIEMS) kit is the technological backbone of modern Kenyan elections. Introduced in its current form for the 2017 general election, the KIEMS kit serves a dual purpose: biometric voter verification during voting, and electronic results transmission after counting. The ORPP Agents Quick Guide identifies the KIEMS kit as a critical item that agents must understand thoroughly.

What Is the KIEMS Kit?

The KIEMS kit is a tablet-like device that combines several functions into one unit:

• Biometric fingerprint scanner: Reads the voter's fingerprint and matches it against the electronic voter register
• Camera: Captures the voter's photograph for facial recognition as a secondary verification method
• Electronic voter register: Contains the complete register of voters assigned to that polling station
• SIM card with 4G connectivity: Enables real-time communication with the IEBC data center and results transmission
• Battery with extended life: Designed to last the full voting day (12+ hours) without charging
• Camera for form capture: Used after counting to photograph and transmit images of result forms

Each polling station receives one KIEMS kit, pre-loaded with the voter register for that specific station. The kit is assigned to the station and cannot be used at another station without reconfiguration.

How Biometric Voter Verification Works

When a voter arrives at the polling station, the identification process follows a specific sequence that agents should monitor closely:

The biometric verification process takes approximately 15-30 seconds per voter when functioning normally. This speed is critical — at a station with 700 registered voters and an 11-hour voting window, the KIEMS must process approximately one voter per minute to avoid long queues.

What Happens When KIEMS Fails

KIEMS failures were a significant issue in 2017, when approximately 11.4% of voters nationwide could not be verified biometrically. The Supreme Court cited KIEMS failures as one of the factors in nullifying the presidential result. For 2022, the IEBC improved the technology, but failures still occurred.

When the KIEMS kit cannot verify a voter biometrically, the fallback procedure is:

1. Attempt fingerprint scan up to three times — Using different fingers if the first attempt fails. Some voters have worn or damaged fingerprints (common among manual laborers) that make biometric matching difficult.
2. Use facial recognition — The KIEMS kit's camera can attempt facial matching as a secondary method.
3. Fall back to the alphanumeric register — If biometric verification fails entirely, the PO can verify the voter using the printed alphanumeric register. The voter's name, ID number, and photograph in the printed register are compared against the physical ID document. If they match, the voter is allowed to vote.
4. Record the manual verification — Every voter verified manually (rather than biometrically) must be recorded on the KIEMS validation form. This form tracks the number of biometric vs. manual verifications at each station.

KIEMS for Results Transmission

After counting is complete and all result forms (34A through 39A) are filled and signed, the KIEMS kit's second function activates: electronic results transmission.

The Transmission Process

1. PO photographs result forms: Using the KIEMS kit's camera, the PO photographs each completed and signed result form. The images must be clear and legible.
2. PO enters results digitally: The PO keys in the numerical results for each candidate into the KIEMS kit's results entry interface.
3. KIEMS transmits to constituency and national: The kit sends both the photographed forms and the digital results to the IEBC's constituency tallying center and the national tallying center simultaneously.
4. Confirmation received: The KIEMS kit receives a confirmation that the transmission was successful. If transmission fails, the PO may need to move to a location with better connectivity or the results are transmitted manually at the constituency tallying center.

What Agents Should Verify During Transmission

• Forms are photographed before transmission: The images of signed forms are the primary legal record. If the digital numbers are transmitted without the form images, there is no way to verify authenticity.
• Digital results match physical forms: The numbers the PO enters into the KIEMS must match the numbers written on the physical result forms. Any discrepancy is a serious irregularity.
• Transmission confirmation: The agent should confirm that the KIEMS shows a successful transmission. If transmission fails, the agent should note this and report to the Constituency Chief Agent.
• Agent receives their copy first: The agent should receive their signed copy of the result forms before electronic transmission, not after. This ensures the agent's copy matches what was transmitted.

Common KIEMS Issues Agents Should Watch For

Based on experience from the 2017 and 2022 elections, here are the most common KIEMS-related issues:

The Dual Role of KIEMS: Verification + Transmission

The genius and the vulnerability of the KIEMS system is that it serves both as the gatekeeper (who gets to vote) and the messenger (what the results are). If the KIEMS fails during verification, voting can continue using the manual register. But if the KIEMS fails during transmission, there is no digital backup — the physical forms must be hand-delivered to the tallying center.

This dual role is why agents must pay attention to the KIEMS kit throughout the entire day — from the moment it is powered on to verify the first voter, through the counting process, to the final transmission of results. The KIEMS kit is the single most important piece of technology in a Kenyan polling station.

Key Takeaways

1. KIEMS serves dual purposes: biometric voter verification (during voting) and electronic results transmission (after counting)
2. If biometrics fail, the fallback is the printed alphanumeric register — agents must monitor the rate of manual verifications
3. During transmission, agents must verify that digital entries match physical forms and that form photographs are clear
4. Common KIEMS issues include fingerprint recognition failures, battery depletion, connectivity problems, and data entry errors
5. The KIEMS validation form records biometric vs. manual verifications and is part of the materials delivered to the Returning Officer

Source: This article draws from the ORPP Agents Quick Guide (June 2022), published by the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties with support from the National Democratic Institute (NDI).

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