Bungoma, Lamu, Tana River and Bomet IEBC officers allegedly turned ODM agents away despite their proper accreditation.

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Kilifi North MP and governor candidate Gideon Mung’aro casts his ballot during the natioal election on August 8, 2017. /ALPHONCE GARI

IEBC clerks at Bura area in Lamu’s Tana River constituency are also said to have given illiterate people pre-marked ballots papers.

Mvita polling station had not been opened by 10am, returning officers saying documents for the presidential vote had been damaged.

“There are also reports of the absence of presidential ballot papers in Webuye West and total failure of KIEMS kits in the better part of Kisumu,” Magaya said.

“There is no voting in Bobasi constituency, Kisii, after ballot boxes for woman representative were found to have the wrong title. No voting is going on in Suba South and there were no agents as at 10am.”

The CEO further said that in Greenspan, Nairobi, IEBC did not pay for the venue so the station remained closed despite a queue that stretched three kilometres.

But he added: “NASA is very pleased with voter turnout and urges those who yet to cast their votes to go in large numbers.”

Polling stations are expected to close at 5pm unless special circumstances arise.

The Kilifi voting process was mired with delays and mass irregularities hitches in the use of KIEMS kits.

The county has 508,068 registered voters and 988 polling stations which were all opened.

Among those affected by the malfunctions was Governor Amason Kingi who had to wait for equipment in Malindi to be replaced.

In other areas, voting kicked off as scheduled but some people complained their names were not in the register.

At the polling station at Kakuyuni Boys’ Secondary School, outgoing woman representative candidate and Malindi MP Aisha Jumwa was the first to vote at 6.03am.

Jumwa said she took a while as the evaluated IEBC officials led by Presiding Officer (PO) Gideon Kalume.

Residents queue to vote at Dabaso Primary School in Malindi constituency, August 8, 2017. /ALPHONCE GARI

The MP corrected Kalume after he called only three agents as witnesses of the help she was getting.

“You are supposed to call all the agents because it’s their constitutional right to witness the exercise, not just a few.”

The parliamentary hopeful said she did not know the process but wanted to know whether the officials were getting it right.

Jumwa’s brother Salim Karisa was found registered in Magarini yet he did so in Kakuyuni.

“The officers told me my name was missing. They did not even want to look at my voter’s card,” he said.

But Jumwa said she was happy about IEBC’s level of preparedness and expressed optimism about a smooth exercise.

A spot check at polling stations in Mijomboni area, Gede and Dabaso in Kilifi North found large numbers of voters.

Kilifi North MP and governor candidate Gideon Mung’aro queued with the people. He voted at about 7.30 am.

Mung’aro said the numbers indicated many members of the public no longer skip the national election.

“Initially people used to wait to be ferried but they have turned up to vote. The exercise is peaceful … after voting people should go back home.”

Source:.the-star.co.ke