14 Election Day Offences That Will Land You In Jail

With merely hours to go till the Tuesday, August 9, 2022, general elections, the Elections Act, 2016 has a list of offences that, if not followed on the material day, can land you imprisonment of three years or a fine of Ksh1 million- or both.

The offences also include wearing a branded attire, badge or any other item that identifies you to a political party during the voting exercise.

In addition, employers are advised to allow employees a reasonable period for voting- essentially discouraging them from making any form of deductions or imposing penalties for their absence.

"An employer who directly or indirectly refuses, or by intimidation, undue influence, or in any other manner interferes with the granting to any voter in his employ of a reasonable period for voting as specified in subsection (1) commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding one million shillings or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six years or to both," reads part of the Act. 

Other offences that could earn you jail time or a fine, or both, include:

1. Forge, counterfeit, deface or destroy any ballot paper or the official perforation, stamp or mark on any ballot paper
2. Supplying any ballot paper to any person without authority
3. Selling or offering for sale any ballot paper to any person
4. Purchasing or offering to purchase any ballot paper from any person not being a person entitled to be in possession of any ballot paper
5. Putting into any ballot box anything other than the ballot paper which he/she is authorised by law to put in
6. Without authority taking out any ballot paper out of a polling station or found in possession of any ballot paper outside a polling station
7. Removing election material from a polling station before, during or after an election without authority. Or destroying, taking, opening, disposing of or otherwise interfering with any election material in use or intended to be used for the purposes of an election
8. Printing without authority any ballot paper or what purports to be or is capable of being used as a ballot paper at an election
9. Being in possession of any appliance, device or mechanism that can interfere with ballots.
10. Voting at any election when they are not entitled to vote
11. Voting more than once in any election
12. Interfering with a voter in the casting of his vote in secret
13. Pretending to be unable to read or write so as to be assisted in voting
14. Pretending to be visually impaired or suffering from any other disability so as to be assisted in voting