By Pascal Ndegwa - Reporter
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Kenya, October 23, 2026 - Kenya’s lawmakers have just made a big change to how election results will be shared. On 22 October 2026, the National Assembly passed a new bill. It removes the legal duty for the election body to show results live from polling stations.
The bill is called the Elections (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill, 2024. It had already passed the Senate last year. Now both houses of Parliament have agreed. The next step is for the President to sign it into law.
For years, Kenyans could watch results come in on screens as they were announced. This started after the troubled 2007 election. People wanted to see the counting with their own eyes. It helped build trust.
The old law said the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, or IEBC, must set up a way to stream those announcements live. Courts later said some parts of that law went too far. In 2018, a High Court ruling found that limiting the power of live results hurt transparency.
The new bill deletes the whole old section and writes a new one. Results announced at the polling station will still be final. The IEBC must still send presidential results electronically within two hours. It must also put the official forms online for everyone to check.
What disappears is the rule that forces the IEBC to stream the announcements live. The commission can still do it if it wants. But the law will no longer demand it.
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This change matters because many Kenyans used the live feed to follow the count in real time. Without it, people will rely more on the official forms posted later and the electronic numbers sent to tallying centres. Political parties and observers will still get the results quickly. Ordinary viewers may not see the moment results are read out at each station.
Supporters say the real proof has always been the paper forms signed at the polling station. They argue that courts can still order a recount if anyone questions the numbers. Critics worry that less live access could make people more suspicious in a close race.
Imagine a young voter in Kisumu or Mombasa staying up late to watch the numbers roll in. Under the new rules, that live picture may no longer be guaranteed. Instead, they will wait for the forms to appear online.
The bill now goes to the President. He has 14 days to sign it or send it back. If he signs, the new rules will shape how Kenya runs the 2027 general election. The change touches the heart of how open and trusted the next vote will feel.