A GUIDE TO THE KENYA 2013 BVR
OBSERVATION EXPERIENCES
Presented by
ELIZABETH CIRINDI KIREMA Head of Research, Institute for Education in Democracy (IED)
NDI Workshop on “ Citizen Oversight of Biometric Voter
Registration (BVR)” in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire from 4th to 6th March
2014
Elections Observation Group(ELOG)
www.elog.or.ke
CONTENT OF PRESENTATION
INTRODUCTION TO ELOG
BVR (BACKGROUND, HOW IT WORKED AND OBSERVATION
STRATEGIES)
HIGHLIGHTS OF ELOG’S BVR MONITORING FINDINGS
CHALLENGES ENCOUNTERED
LESSONS LEARNT
CONCLUSION
INTRODUCTION TO ELOG
ELOG is an acronym for Elections Observation Group A long-term and permanent platform for civil
society, faith-based organizations and other key stakeholders interested in promoting transparency, accountability and citizen participation in the electoral process, through non-partisan, impartial and objective domestic monitoring and observation of the entire electoral process.
Formed in 2010, ELOG’s main goal is to strengthen democracy and good governance in Kenya and the African region through structured, quality, long-term domestic election monitoring and observation.
Currently ELOG has 11 Steering Committee member Organizations
ELOG STEERING COMMITTEE MEMBERS
1. Centre for Governance and Development (CGD)
2. Consortium for Empowerment and Development of Marginalized
Communities (CEDMAC)
3. Constitution and Reform Education Consortium (CRECO)
4. Catholic Justice and Peace Commission (CJPC)
5. Ecumenical Centre for Justice and Peace(ECJP)
6. Federation of Women Lawyers of Kenya (FIDA)
7. Institute for Education in Democracy (IED)
8. National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK)
9. Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims (SUPKEM)
10. United Disabled Persons of Kenya (UDPK)
11. Youth Agenda(YAA)
ELOG MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE
Advisory and Intervention Panel Selected from among the current chairpersons of the ELOG member organizations
Is the ELOG’s advisory and mediation channel to political players and the general
public
Responsible for the arbitration on such matters as it may deem necessary to ensure
a free, fair and peaceful elections
The panel supports the actions and decisions of the ELOG in disseminating
observation findings and communicating messages to the targeted individuals and
organizations.
Steering Committee Selected from the ED’s of member organizations
The overall policy making and oversight organ of ELOG.
Responsible for providing policy guidance, oversight and overall supervision of the
coalition generally and the secretariat specifically.
The current ELOG chair is the Executive Director of the Centre for Governance and
Development (CGD),Mr. Kennedy Masime
ELOG SECRETARIAT
National Coordinator
M&E Manager
Finance Manager
Finance officer
4 Finance Assistants
ICT Manager PVT Manager
PVT Logistician
Logistics Assistants
9 Zonal Coordinators
290 PVT CS
PVT Observers.
Statistician Lead Trainer
GO Manager
GO Logistician
Logistics Asst.
2 GO Assistants
290 GO CS
GO Observers.
ELOG’S 2013 ELECTION OBSERVATION STRATEGIES
Based on the electoral cycle (Observed Pre, During and Post
election period)
A). PRE-ELECTION PERIOD OBSERVATION STRATEGIES
ELOG identified seven thematic areas and identified various ELOG
Member organizations to be conveners based on the members
experiences and mandate. The member organizations monitored the
various thematic areas and shared information with ELOG
secretariat for consolidation and dissemination.
ELOG thematic areas included Monitoring Voter Registration;
Implementation of the Political Parties Act and Political Financing;
Advocacy on Electoral Law Reform and Constituency Boundary
Delimitation; Election Campaign Monitoring; Promotion and
Participation of Marginalized Groups; Voter Education and Media
Monitoring.
BVR OBSERVATION STRATEGIES- BACKGROUND
Electronic Voter Registration in Kenya dates back in
2010 when the Interim Independent Electoral
Commission (IIEC) piloted Electronic Voter
Registration(EVR) in 18 constituencies out of the then
210 constituencies.
This was between April and May 2010 when the IIEC
compiled the register for the constitutional referendum.
Through EVR 1,354,692 Voters were registered in the 18
constituencies where EVR was piloted.
The promulgation of a new Constitution on 27th August
2010 provided for the establishment of the Independent
Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to replace
the IIEC.
BVR OBSERVATION STRATEGIES-BACKGROUND
The IEBC is legally mandated to continuously register
citizens as voters, and to regularly revise the voters
register.
Learning from the 2007 elections and issues raised with
regard to the quality of the 2007 voters register, there
was pressure from the public to have voters registered
electronically.
IEBC began BVR procurement processes which
unfortunately did not success.
The IEBC had shortlisted 4 companies to be considered
in the tendering process.
BVR OBSERVATION STRATEGIES-BACKGROUND
These are:
1. 4G Identity Solutions of India that quoted $ 45 million
(Ksh: 3.72 Billion)
2. Symphony of India that quoted $47.5 Million(Ksh. 3.9
Billion)
3. Face Technologies of South Africa that quoted
$55.3(Ksh. 4.6 Billion)
4. Ontrack innovations of Israel that quoted $99.4
million(Ksh. 8.2 Billion)
The IEBC tendering committee awarded the tender to
face technologies of South Africa which ranked 3rd
against the evaluation committee recommendations of
the 4G identity Solutions of India which had quoted less
amount.
BVR OBSERVATION STRATEGIES-BACKGROUND
While terminating the BVR tendering process the IEBC
chair cited that the two lowest bidders did not meet the
due diligence requirements while the other two were
above the Commission’s Budget. He also noted that the
commission was under intense external pressure from
several quarters
After terminating the BVR procurement process,the
Government intervened and 15,000 BVR kits were
procured using loans negotiated between the
government and the standard chartered Bank of London.
The government also agreed to amend the Elections Act,
2011 to reduce the period for closure of voter registration
from 90 days to 45 days before elections.
BVR REGISTRATION PROCESS-HOW IT WORKED
Biometric Voter Registration process utilised a combination of
electronic equipments to capture and store voters’ bio-data.
The equipments included the laptops with registration software
installed; finger print scanner, a digital camera, power batteries and
cables.
Voter’s details that were captured included names, age, gender,
finger prints, and a face photograph.
Other details captured included voters registration centre name,
polling station name, Assembly ward name, Constituency and
County name.
After registration the voters were issued with acknowledgement slip
as proof for registration though this was not a requirement for voting.
BVR REGISTRATION PROCESS-HOW IT WORKED
Once voters’ details were captured by the BVR kit, an
electronic applicant’s number was automatically
generated by the kit that showed the BVR kit number,
the year of registration, the date and time of registration.
The data from the BVR kits was later uploaded to the
central server of the IEBC. This was used to generate
the electronic poll book that was used on 4th March
2013.
IEBC procured Electronic Voter Identification Devices
(EVID) to identify and confirm voter registration details
on the elections day.
ELOG BVR OBSERVATION METHODOLOGY
ElOG utilized the PVT principles to observe the BVR
process.
This was done to ensure real time reporting and
communication to the various stakeholders especially
the IEBC and National Registration Bureau(NRB). It also
enabled ELOG to prepare preliminary media statements.
Just like PVT, ELOG undertook a number of activities
which acted as building blocks to the success of BVR
monitoring exercise.
Step1: Acquisition of the official list of the registration
centres from the IEBC disaggregated by Constituency.
The list had 24,613 registration centres nationally.
ELOG BVR OBSERVATION METHODOLOGY
Step 2: Drawing a nationally representative sample of the
registration centres. Our sample was 3,750 registration
centres.
Step 3: Determination of the number of observers that
ELOG was able to engage - based on the budgetary
allocation. ELOG planned to engage 250 monitors.
Step 4: Determining how many days to engage one
observer. Each observer was engaged for 15 days. This
meant that each monitor was to report in one registration
centre, remain there the whole day (7.30 am - 5.00pm)
to observe and report. The reporting strategy included
texting 3 SMS’s per day to the BVR database and
completing one checklist an incident form for that
specific centre.
ELOG BVR OBSERVATION METHODOLOGY
Step 5: Application of a short code from Safaricom and
Airtel service providers. Our short code was 4156
Step 6: Recruitment of Constituency BVR observers. This
was based on the sampled registration centres to reduce
travel costs.
NB. As much as ELOG had planned to train and deploy
250 Constituency observers to observe BVR processes
in 3750 registration centres, we were only able to train
214 observers who were deployed in 3,210 registration
centres.
ELOG BVR OBSERVATION METHODOLOGY
This is because it took too long for the IEBC to
determine the timelines for the BVR voter registration
exercise which depended on the procurement of BVR
kits and training of the registration clerks. By the time the
IEBC declared the timelines for the BVR process, ELOG
was time constrained and could not train all the 250 BVR
monitors as envisaged. Therefore we deployed only
those whom we were able to train.
Step 7: Accreditation of BVR observers by the IEBC. The
commission required details of observers for
accreditation.
ELOG BVR OBSERVATION METHODOLOGY
Step 8: Development of BVR monitoring Tools. ELOG
developed BVR checklist and incident form that had
coded responses. Coding of responses enabled the
observers to send their responses via SMS using a
predetermined formula. We also developed a texting
guide that was used to train BVR Monitors. Each day
the observer was required to send three SMS’s to the
BVR database.
Step 9: Development of the BVR database(this had
observer details in regard to the registration centre
codes that they were expected to observe, their contact
details, the BVR Checklist and the incident form)
ELOG BVR OBSERVATION METHODOLOGY
Step 10: Training and deployment of observers. All trainings were
conducted at the national level. Deployment was done based on the
sampled registration centres.
Observers stayed at each sampled registration centre the whole
day. They were expected to text 3 SMS’s to the BVR database and
complete one checklist per registration centre
Observers also used the incident form to text any incidences that
occurred during registration process.
Completed checklists and incident forms were later sent to IED’s
office after the observation period for final analysis and compilation
of the final report.
On elections day, ELOG used the PVT Observers as well as the
general observers to observe the E-day processes.
HIGHLIGHTS OF BVR MONITORING FINDINGS
Procurement of the BVR kits was marred with controversies that
eroded the confidence in the voters roll and the commission. A high
profiled procurement process of $50million USD was cancelled
occasioning public concern about the IEBC’s independence.
After terminating the BVR procurement process, Government
intervened and 15,000 BVR kits were procured using loans
negotiated between the government and the Standard Chartered
Bank of London.
Delay in the procurement of BVR kits affected the elections timelines
in general. This occasioned the amendment of the Elections Act
2011 which reduced timelines for voter registration and compilation
of the principal register of voters from 90 days before elections to 45
days
HIGHLIGHTS OF BVR MONITORING FINDINGS
According to the Elections Act, 2011, voter registration
ought to have began in the month of September, 2012,
while compilation, inspection and publication of the
register would have commenced in December 2012 .
However due to delay in the procurement of the BVR
kits, BVR registration took only a month from 19th
November 2012 to 18th December 2012.
Timelines for inspection of the voters register were also
affected. Inspection took only 14 days instead of one
month long period provided in the law.
The compressed timelines caused by delay in the
procurement of BVR kits affected preparation for the
2013 General elections .
HIGHLIGHTS OF BVR MONITORING FINDINGS
Malfunctioning of some of the BVR kits, low turn out of eligible
voters especially in the 1st two weeks of registration, insecurity in
some regions, insufficient power to drive BVR kits, lack of National
Identification cards and misconception that BVR is harmful to the
body.
Late commencement of Diaspora voter registration. By 30th
November, 2012 Diaspora voter registration had not began. Two
weeks to the closure of BVR.
Lack of information on BVR Kits movement. In total there were
24,613 registration centres. Therefore the BVR kits were shared
between two or more registration centres. There was no operational
schedule on the movement of the BVR kits a number of voters were
disenfranchised.
This also affected the BVR observers who had now to observe
based on the presence of BVR kits in the registration centres.
HIGHLIGHTS OF BVR MONITORING FINDINGS
Engaging all stakeholders to mobilize eligible voters to
register was a good strategy for it increased voter
registration from 33% in the 1st two weeks of registration
to 79.9% by close of the registration period.
In total IEBC registered 14,352,545 voters in Kenya and
2,637 Kenyan in the East Africa Community(EAC)
community.
Non-registration of those hospitalized and prisoners
Information that the Commission will not register voters
outside the East Africa community came very late.
ELOG’S 2013 ELECTIONS DAY OBSERVATION STRATEGIES
ELOG used two methodologies: Parallel Vote Tabulation and
general observation. PVT was the method that was mainly used on
E-day.
Both methods complimented each other to boost confidence in the
fairness of the entire electoral process.
In order to support recruitment of PVT constituency supervisors and
observers, ELOG recruited 9 Zonal coordinators.
ELOG also recruited and effectively trained 48 Master trainers who
trained all the 580 constituency supervisors , 972 PVT observers
and over 6000 general observers.
ELOG trained and deployed 580 Constituency Supervisors, and
over 7,000 observers in all the 290 constituencies. Out of the 7,000
Observers, 976 were deployed as PVT observers in a nationally
representative sample of the total 31,977 polling streams
ELOG’S 2013 ELECTIONS DAY BVR OBSERVATION FINDINGS
ELOG received reports from 97.5% sampled polling stations on E-
day
Highlights of E-day Observations on BVR
Failure of the Electronic Voter Identification Device(EVID) in 55.1%
of all polling streams resulting to the use of the printed hard copies
of the voters register by the IEBC.
Voters whose details were not on the register were not permitted to
vote in 84.8% of the polling stations(according to the law)
Voters whose details were not on the register were permitted to vote
in 15.2% of the total polling stations
Voters names were properly marked or crossed out once their
details were confirmed in the voters register in 99.4%
CHALLENGES ENCOUNTERED
1. In spite of comprehensive training, some participants could not
pass the post-tests and therefore they had to be replaced. This
meant organizing for additional trainings.
2. Late compilation of the official list of all polling streams by the
IEBC, delayed the finalization of ELOG’s PVT sample. We had to
recruit PVT observers on ward basis who were later deployed in
specific sample polling streams. The extra PVT Observers were
deployed as general observers
CHALLENGES ENCOUNTERED
3. Suspicion from IEBC that ELOG would release the PVT
results before the official announcement . ELOG had to
sign an MOU with IEBC that provided that ELOG would
only release PVT results after the commission had
announced the official results.
4. Misunderstanding of PVT objectives by a number of
stakeholders. Some thought it provides alternative
results from that of IEBC. ELOG had to undertake
extensive media awareness and understanding of what
PVT is and what is not. We had to insist that only IEBC is
mandated by law to announce results and PVT results
are meant to verify the accuracy of the official results.
CHALLENGES ENCOUNTERED
5. The controversies surrounding the procurement of the
BVT kits affected our BVR monitoring processes. Due to
compressed timelines we could not recruit and train the
250 BVR observers as planned.
LESSONS LEARNT
1. Early planning and fundraising for the entire
observation processes is crucial in ensuring resources
are available on time. Probably a year to the E-day. By
November 2011 ELOG observation proposal and
budget were ready.
2. Planning for a run-off in highly contested elections is a
good practice. ELOG was prepared in advance to
observe the run-off even though it did not occur.
3. Consistently following up on the IEBC to share the final
official list of the polling streams. ELOG never gave up.
4. Recruitment of competent and committed staff to work
at the secretariat level is critical for the success of PVT
and general observations
LESSONS LEARNT
5. Training smaller groups of participants ensured quality
and active participations. ELOG ensured each training
group had not more than 25 participants.
6.Administering pre and post test to participants during
training ensured only those who qualified were engaged
as supervisors and observers. This minimized the level
of errors during transmission of PVT data and
completion of observer forms.
7. Having master trainers ensured that all trainings were
standardized and the same delivery methods were
used.
LESSONS LEARNT
8. Technical advice and expertise provided by NDI staff
played a key role in the success of PVT
9. Development of training materials in advance. Allowed
for early review and ensured that trainers and
participants had relevant materials on time.
10. Simulation of the PVT system before e-day is important.
ELOG had a national wide simulation on 25th February
2013. This enabled us to address a number of issues that could have hindered the success of PVT.
CONCLUSION
BVR is a better system for voter registration compared to
manual processes.
However, the technology need to be introduced on time
to ensure that it is tested on a large scale to ensure that
it works.
Moreover training of staff to manage BVR is key. Proper
training would reduce human error that could be
associated with data entry process.
THANK YOU
