Here on the explainer, we have kept our eye on the election calendar to let you know important dates that are coming up, as we prepare for the August 9th general election.

So here are the next important milestones to look out for going forward:

Next Monday, May 9th, will be exactly 3 months to the election. By this time those in coalitions need to have their agreements lodged with the office of the Registrar of Political Parties. But it’s also about the voters, and the IEBC is preparing for them too.

But there is one date that has already lapsed. The IEBC suspended the continuous voter registration on May 4th, which was Wednesday. In a gazette notice, the IEBC announced the suspension of new registration as well as the change of registration of voters both in Kenya and the disapora from May 4 until March 13, 2023. This is to allow the important process of verification. Which brings us to the next important date on this timeline.

Voters now have one month to verify that their details have been captured correctly in the voters’ register. This follows a gazettement of the voter verification process. You now have between May 4 and June 2, 2022 to check your details in the voters’ roll.  If you find that your details have not been captured correctly, you can now make a claim to the registration officer to have them corrected.

In the meantime, the elections management body is also moving to recruit the short-term election officials that will conduct the elections. If you wish to work for the IEBC during the election, you have until May 6th to make your application. IEBC has announced over 400,000 job opportunities. They include ICT clerks, polling clerks, logistics officers, presiding officers and their deputies and many others. The applications are being done via IEBC’s online portal.

Already the county and constituency returning officers and their deputies as well as those of returning officers responsible for the election of Kenyan citizens living outside the country have been recruited and their names gazetted. And please note that it is the constituency returning officers and their deputies who will be responsible for the verification of the voter register that is underway until June 2.

Now this next date is the subject of great political discourse at the moment. The IEBC has now set Monday, May 16, as the date by which political parties and independent candidates must present the names of their presidential and deputy presidential candidates. The same date also applies to candidates for the county governor seat and their deputies.

Towards the end of the month, the process of formal nomination by the IEBC will take place
where the independent nominees and those from political parties will present their credentials to the electoral body for formal nomination. In line with Chapter 6, they will need clearance from EACC, DCI, HELB, KRA. They will also include their nomination certificates from their political parties; this is scheduled for May 29 to June 7.

The nominations for the presidential election will be from May 29th to June 6th, and they will present their papers to the chairperson of the IEBC, who is the returning officer for the presidential election. This was gazetted on April 28.

The nominations for the Senate elections is scheduled for May 29 to May 31 and they will present their credentials to the county returning officer. The aspirants for the seat of National Assembly will present their papers to the respective returning officers between 29th and the 31st of May.

It will be the turn of MCAs from June 1st to the 7th, and they will do this with the county returning officer; the county woman representatives will have between June 1st and 3rd to their returning officers, and finally, those aspiring to be governors will go before the county returning officer to present their papers between June 4th and 7th.

Once they have been cleared by the IEBC, they will officially be candidates for the August, 7th general election.