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                    Rejected Votes in Kenya Spur Controversy

   by Roopa Gogineni

   Vote counting from Kenya's presidential election continued Wednesday as
   officers of the independent electoral commission delivered ballots from
   around the country to the national tally center in Nairobi. Debate now
   surrounds what to do with rejected votes, a decision that could
   determine whether someone wins in the first round.

   Two days after millions of Kenyans voted to elect the country's fourth
   president, the vote-tallying process has become embroiled in
   controversy.

   The point of contention is a pile of rejected votes, now estimated to
   number 500,000.

   Joaquim Chissano, head of the AU observer mission and former president
   of Mozambique, noted his concern.

   "The African Union election observation mission, however, notes with
   concern the high level of rejected ballots which may have resulted from
   inadequate voter registration in the run-up to the elections. Although
   the mission recognizes efforts made by the IEBC to conduct voter
   education, it is of the view that these were not fully satisfactory,"
   Chissano said.

   If rejected ballots are included in the total vote tally, it would
   likely dilute the frontrunners' current share and make it more
   difficult for either of the leading candidates to receive the absolute
   majority required to win without a second round.

   Candidate Uhuru Kenyatta's Jubilee Coalition accused British High
   Commissioner Christian Turner and Maina Kiai, a prominent Kenyan human
   rights activist, of trying to influence the electoral commission's
   decision about counting rejected votes. Jubilee called the alleged
   interference "an attempt to deny the Jubilee Coalition outright
   victory."

   According to provisional results, Kenyatta is leading in the vote count
   over Raila Odinga, Kenya's prime minister.

   Responding to Jubilee's statement, Maina Kiai said Kenya's constitution
   clearly states that a candidate must receive more than half of all
   votes cast to win an election.

   The British Foreign Office said it was neutral and did not endorse any
   candidate over another. The British statement denied Jubilee's
   accusations, saying, "Claims of British interference, including by the
   High Commission, in the electoral process are entirely false and
   misleading."

   Jubilee's vice presidential candidate William Ruto urged the
   independent electoral commission to speed up the counting.

   "We want to state the Jubilee Coalition supports the IEBC in releasing
   these official results but we want to request they expedite the release
   of the result," Ruto said.


   On Wednesday night, electoral commission Chairman Issack Hassan
   predicted the official results would be out by Friday.

   "Please allow the commission to finish this exercise. I want to assure
   you all the votes will be counted," Hassan said.

   He reminded Kenyans the commission legally has until Monday, one week
   after election day, to announce the results.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/kenya-vote-tally/1616692.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/kenya-vote-tally/1616692.html