The United Democratic Alliance (UDA) has filed a petition opposing the IEBC’s use of the manual register.
The UDA party claims in court documents obtained by Citizen.Digital that the use of the said register will jeopardize the integrity of the elections.
“The integrity of the general elections is likely to be compromised by the possibility of misuse of the manual voter register during elections since a manual register lacks safeguards of enhancing the credibility of elections,” the court papers read.
According to the UDA, serious conflict and confusion are likely unless the High Court decision issued on August 4 ordering the IEBC to use the manual register as the primary mode of identification is stayed.
“There will be the apparent and real likelihood of a serious conflict and confusio in terms of enforcement and implementation of law pertaining to the mode of identification of voters during the forthcoming general elections,” the court papers read.
The petitioner claims that the court of Appeal ordered the IEBC to use the printed register of voters only when the KIEMS kits completely fail with no possibility of repair or replacement, citing a ruling delivered on August 4, 2017.
According to UDA Secretary General Veronica Maina, the decision ordering the IEBC to use the manual register was made in error.
“The learned Judge erred in fact and in law by failing to appreciate that section 44 of the Elections Act imposes the mandatory use of technology during the election exercise,” the court papers add.
At the same time, the UDA party claims that Regulation 69 (1) of the Elections (General) Regulations (e) prohibits the use of a manual voter register for identification purposes, only as an accounting document.
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