Election technology in Kenya
Two very different kinds of technology are used in a Kenyan election: the official systems the IEBC uses to register voters, identify them and transmit results, and the tools campaign organisations use to run their operations. This guide explains both — and keeps them apart.
Official election technology is run by the IEBC under section 44 of the Elections Act: an integrated electronic electoral system for biometric voter registration, electronic voter identification and electronic transmission of results. Campaign technology — CRM, field apps, communications, polling-agent management and internal results monitoring — is used by candidates and parties to organise themselves. VotePulse is campaign technology. It is not part of the IEBC's election infrastructure.
| Official election technology | Campaign technology | |
|---|---|---|
| Who runs it | The IEBC | Candidates, parties and campaign teams |
| Legal basis | Elections Act s. 44 and 44A; Elections (Technology) Regulations, 2017 | General law, including data protection and CAK communications rules |
| Purpose | Register and identify voters; transmit results | Organise people, data, communications and election-day operations |
| Results | Official results, declared by the IEBC and its returning officers | Internal monitoring only, never an official result |
| Examples | Biometric voter registration and identification (KIEMS); electronic results transmission | VotePulse and similar campaign platforms |
A · Official election technology
Technology used by the IEBC
What the Elections Act requires
Section 44 establishes an integrated electronic electoral system that enables biometric voter registration, electronic voter identification and electronic transmission of results. The IEBC must develop a policy on the progressive use of technology, and the technology must be simple, accurate, verifiable, secure, accountable and transparent (s. 44(1)–(3)).
Section 44A requires the IEBC to put in place a complementary mechanism for identifying voters that meets the same standards, so that voters can still exercise their right to vote (s. 44A).
Deadlines before a general election
The IEBC must, in an open and transparent manner, procure and put in place the technology at least 120 days before a general election, and test, verify and deploy it at least 60 days before (s. 44(4)). Counted back from , that means:
- technology procured and in place by ;
- technology tested, verified and deployed by .
These dates are our calculation from the statute. The IEBC's own published timetable governs.
The Elections (Technology) Regulations, 2017
The regulations define "election technology" as a system that includes a biometric voter registration system, a biometric voter identification system, a system for the nomination and registration of candidates, and an electronic results transmission system (reg. 2). They also cover the assessment, procurement, testing, certification and audit of election technology, information security, data storage and access, and continuity planning.
KIEMS
KIEMS — the Kenya Integrated Elections Management System — is the IEBC's name for its election technology system. The IEBC's 2021 tenders for supplying and maintaining KIEMS were considered by the High Court in Mirambo v IEBC [2022] KEHC 11763. For current details of the system, rely on the IEBC.
Electronic results are provisional
At each polling station the presiding officer submits results electronically before delivering the physical results to the returning officer. Those electronic results are provisional and subject to confirmation (Elections (General) Regulations, reg. 82).
B · Campaign technology
Technology used by campaign organisations
Campaigns use their own technology to organise people and information. None of it records official votes or produces official results, and none of it replaces the IEBC's systems.
- Campaign CRMContacts, supporters and volunteers organised by county, constituency and ward, with consent recorded.
- Field appsMobile reporting for agents and volunteers: visits, meetings, incidents, photos and GPS, often offline.
- Volunteer systemsRecruitment, territory assignment, coordination and activity tracking.
- CommunicationsSMS, WhatsApp, voice and social publishing within CAK and data-protection rules.
- Reporting and analyticsOperational dashboards on coverage, activity and readiness from the campaign’s own data.
- Polling-agent managementAgent databases, station assignment, check-in and incident reporting.
- Command centresOne operational picture for campaign leadership on the busiest days.
- Internal results monitoringA campaign’s own tally from its agents’ copies of polling-station result forms.
Where VotePulse fits
VotePulse is a campaign operations platform in this second category: CRM, the GroundForce field app, communications, polling-agent operations, command centres and internal results monitoring for campaign teams. It is independent of the IEBC and does not declare results. See the platform, what Kenyan campaigns need from campaign software or our campaign technology consultancy.