Post-Election Petitions in 2022: 200+ Cases That Went to Court

August 9, 2022, was election day. But for Kenya's judiciary, the real work began on August 22 — the filing deadline for election petitions. By the time the window closed, 203 petitions had been filed across all levels of the judiciary, making 2022 one of the most litigated elections in Kenya's history.

The Petition Breakdown

The 203 petitions spanned every elective position:

• Presidential: 1 (Raila Odinga & Martha Karua v. Ruto — dismissed unanimously)
• Gubernatorial: 21 petitions challenging governor results in 21 counties
• Senatorial: 12 petitions
• Women Representative: 8 petitions
• National Assembly: 68 petitions challenging constituency MP results
• County Assembly: 93 petitions challenging MCA ward results

The MCA level generated the most petitions (93), reflecting the intense competition and allegations of irregularities at the grassroots level. Gubernatorial petitions (21) represented 44.7% of all governor races — meaning nearly half of all gubernatorial results were challenged in court.

What Petitioners Alleged

Common grounds for petitions included:

• Vote tallying errors (45%): Discrepancies between Form 34A/B/C figures — mathematical errors, missing forms, and unsigned documents
• Bribery and corruption (23%): Allegations of vote buying, agent bribery, and misuse of state resources
• Violence and intimidation (12%): Claims that voters or agents were threatened, preventing free expression of will
• Candidate qualification (10%): Challenges to educational qualifications, citizenship, or criminal records
• Procedural violations (10%): Non-compliance with electoral regulations in voting, counting, or transmission

The Outcomes

Kenya's courts worked through the petitions over several months. The results:

• Petitions dismissed: 141 (69.5%) — the vast majority failed to meet evidentiary thresholds
• Elections nullified: 17 (8.4%) — courts ordered fresh elections in these constituencies/wards
• Results overturned: 6 (3.0%) — the court declared a different winner without ordering a fresh election
• Petitions withdrawn: 28 (13.8%) — petitioners withdrew, often after out-of-court settlements
• Petitions struck out: 11 (5.4%) — dismissed on procedural grounds before reaching merit

Notable Nullifications

The 17 nullified elections included several high-profile cases:

• Meru Governor (Kawira Mwangaza): Initially upheld, later faced an impeachment that was overturned by courts — a separate but related legal saga
• Several MCA wards where courts found systematic tallying errors that affected the outcome
• Two parliamentary constituencies where violence was found to have materially affected voter participation

The Cost of Litigation

Election petitions are enormously expensive for all parties involved:

• Average cost per petition: KES 5-15 million for the petitioner, similar for the respondent
• Total estimated litigation cost: KES 2-3 billion across all 203 petitions
• Judiciary resources: An estimated 300 judges and magistrates were involved in hearing election petitions, diverting resources from regular case loads
• Timeline: Most petitions took 3-6 months to resolve, with appeals extending to 9-12 months

For losing candidates, the petition process is often a last, desperate gamble — expensive, time-consuming, and statistically unlikely to succeed. But for the 23 petitioners (17 nullifications + 6 reversals) whose cases succeeded, the courts provided justice that the ballot box didn't.

The Evidence Problem

The high dismissal rate (69.5%) reflects a persistent evidence gap in Kenyan election petitions. Courts require specific, polling-station-level evidence of irregularities — not general allegations or statistical analysis. But gathering such evidence within the tight filing deadlines is extremely difficult.

This is where independent vote tracking proves its worth. Organizations that deployed parallel tallying systems in 2022 were able to compare their station-level data against official IEBC figures, identifying discrepancies that would otherwise have gone undetected.

For the 2027 cycle, the lesson is clear: if you might need to petition, start collecting evidence on election day itself — not after the results are announced.

Build your evidence base before election day. Request a Votrack demo to see how polling station-level data collection supports legal challenges.