Preliminary counts suggest that Kenyan citizens said “Yes” to a new constitution in a referendum on Wednesday.
Nine hours after polling stations closed, with votes still being counted, 67 percent of the ballots were in favor of the new law, according to the Interim Independent Electoral Commission (IIEC). A final count will take at least one day.
If passed, the new constitution will replace the previous one dating back to 1963, the year that Kenya became independent. Under the new constitution, the power of the president will be less absolute in favor of more democratic institutions and it consolidates a number of basic civil rights and freedoms.
The country has 12.4 million people eligible for voting. Due to scanning errors and cases of double registration the IIEC says it had registered 12.6 million at the time the polls closed.
Suspicion of fraud during the presidential elections in 2007 caused an internal conflict in the country resulting in the deaths of 1,300 people.
This time, however, the elections were relatively peaceful.
Kenyan newspaper, Daily Nation, published a short report on Wednesday from the Elections Observer Group (ELOG), noting that in some instances observers were prevented from accessing polling stations due to communication problems.
ELOG commended the IIEC “for smooth management of the process so far.” More than 90 percent of the stations opened on time and had long waiting lines throughout the day.
Nine hours after polling stations closed, with votes still being counted, 67 percent of the ballots were in favor of the new law, according to the Interim Independent Electoral Commission (IIEC). A final count will take at least one day.
If passed, the new constitution will replace the previous one dating back to 1963, the year that Kenya became independent. Under the new constitution, the power of the president will be less absolute in favor of more democratic institutions and it consolidates a number of basic civil rights and freedoms.
The country has 12.4 million people eligible for voting. Due to scanning errors and cases of double registration the IIEC says it had registered 12.6 million at the time the polls closed.
Suspicion of fraud during the presidential elections in 2007 caused an internal conflict in the country resulting in the deaths of 1,300 people.
This time, however, the elections were relatively peaceful.
Kenyan newspaper, Daily Nation, published a short report on Wednesday from the Elections Observer Group (ELOG), noting that in some instances observers were prevented from accessing polling stations due to communication problems.
ELOG commended the IIEC “for smooth management of the process so far.” More than 90 percent of the stations opened on time and had long waiting lines throughout the day.
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