Election Laws: Offences Relating to Register of Voters in Kenya

Section 3 of the Election Offences Act
3. Offences relating to register of voters
A person who—
(a) without authority makes, prepares, prints or is in possession of a
document or paper purporting to be a register of voters;
(b) knowingly makes any false statement on, or in connection with any
application to be registered in any register of voters; or
(c) aids, abets, counsels or procures the commission of or attempts to
commit any of the offences referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b),
commits an offence and is liable on conviction, to a fine not exceeding two million
shillings or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six years, or to both.

Election Laws: Participation in elections by public officer in Kenya

Section 15 of the Kenya election offences Act.

15. Participation in elections by public officers
(1) A public officer who—
(a) engages in the activities of any political party or candidate or act as
an agent of a political party or a candidate in an election;
(b) publicly indicates support for or opposition against any party, side or
candidate participating in an election;
(c) engages in political campaigns or other political activity; or
(d) uses public resources to initiate new development projects in any
constituency or county for the purpose of supporting a candidate or
political party in that constituency or county,
commits an offence and is liable on conviction, to a fine not exceeding one million
shillings or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years, or to both.
(2) A person who knowingly aids in contravention of 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 three years, or to both such fine and
imprisonment.
(3) A candidate who knowingly aids in contravention of subsection (1) shall not
be eligible to contest in the election.

Election Laws: Offences Relating to Elections in Kenya

Section 13 of the Kenya Election offences Act

13.Offences relating to elections
A person who—
(a) prints, publishes, distributes or posts up, or causes to be printed,
published, distributed or posted up, any advertisement, handbill,
placard or poster which refers to any election and which does not bear
upon its face the names and addresses of the printer and publisher;
(b) makes or publishes, before or during any election, for the purpose
of promoting or procuring the election of any candidate, any false
statement of withdrawal of any other candidate at such election;
(c) forges, defaces or destroys any nomination paper, or delivers to a
returning officer any nomination paper knowing it to be forged;
(d) interferes with election material by removing destroying, concealing
or mutilating or assists in the removal, destruction, concealment
or mutilation of any such material save on the authority of the
Commission or under the provisions of the Elections Act (No. 24 of
2011);
(e) directly or indirectly prints, manufactures or supplies or procures the
printing, manufacture or supply of any election material in connection
with the election save on the authority of the Commission;
(f) interferes with free political canvassing and campaigning by—
(i) using language which is threatening, abusive or insulting or
engages in any kind of action which may advocate hatred, incite
violence or influence the voters on grounds of ethnicity, race,
religion, gender or any other ground of discrimination;
(ii) directly or indirectly, using the threat of force, violence,
harassment or otherwise preventing the conduct of any political
meeting, march, demonstration or other event of a political
nature or any other person from attending or participating
therein;
(iii) creating a material disruption with the intention of preventing a
political party from holding a public political meeting;
(iv) impeding, preventing or threatening to impede or prevent the
right of any representative of any political party from gaining
access, in the manner and during the hours prescribed to voters
in any particular area, whether public or private for the purposes
of canvassing and campaigning and soliciting membership and
support; or
(v) impeding, preventing or threatening to impede or prevent
a member of the Commission, a representative of the
Commission or any other authorised person or organisation
engaged in voter education from gaining access, in the refuses
or fails to effect a direction, instruction or lawful order issued by
or on behalf of the Commission;
(g) refuses or fails to leave an election counting centre or any area
designated by the Commission for electoral purposes when so
ordered in accordance with the Elections Act;
(h) enters or remains in an election centre or in any area designated by
the Commission for electoral purposes in contravention of Elections
Act;
(i) obstructs or hinders any elections officer, candidate or agent in the
execution of their lawful duties;
(j) makes a false statement or furnishes false particulars in any
statement which is required under Elections Act knowing the
statement or particulars to be false or without reasonable grounds for
believing the same to be true; or
(k) publishes, repeats or disseminates in any manner whatsoever,
information with the intention of—
(i) disrupting or preventing the election;
(ii) creating hostility or fear in order to influence the process or
outcome of the election; or
(iii) otherwise unlawfully influencing the process or outcome of the
election, or aids, abets counsels or procures the commission of
or attempts to commit any such offence; or
(l) forges, defaces or destroys any campaign or promotional material of
an opposing candidate or political party,
commits an offence and is liable, on conviction, to a fine not exceeding five hundred
thousand shillings or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or to both.

Election Laws: Use of Force or Violence During Election Period

Section 11 of the Kenya Election offences Act
11.Use of force or violence during election period
A person who, directly or indirectly in person or by any other person on his
behalf, inflicts or threatens to inflict injury, damage, harm or loss on or against a
person—
(a) so as to induce or compel that person to support a particular candidate
or political party;
(b) on account of such person having voted or refrained from voting; or
(c) in order to induce or compel that person to vote in a particular way
or refrain from voting,
commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding two million
shillings or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six years or to both.

Election Laws: Bribery During Elections in Kenya

Section 9 of the Kenya Election offences Act
9. Bribery
(1) A person who, during an election period—
(a) directly or indirectly offers a bribe to influence a voter to—
(i) vote or refrain from voting for a particular candidate or political
party;
(ii) attend or participate in or refrain from attending or participating
in any political meeting, march, demonstration or other event of
a political nature or in some other manner lending support to or
for a political party or candidate;
(b) in any manner unlawfully influences the result of an election;
(c) directly or indirectly, in person or by any person on his behalf, in order
to induce any other person to agree to be nominated as a candidate
or to refrain from becoming a candidate or to withdraw if they have
become candidates,
commits an offence.
(2) A person who, during an election period, accepts or agrees to accept a bribe
that is offered in the circumstances described in subsection (1) commits an offence.
(3) A person who commits an offence under this section shall be liable, on
conviction, to a fine not exceeding two million shillings or to imprisonment for a
term not exceeding six years or to both.

Election Laws: Offences by members and staff of the Electoral Commission of Kenya

Section 6 of the Election Offences Act
6. Offences by members and staff of the Commission
A member of the Commission, staff or other person having any duty to perform
pursuant to any written law relating to any election who—
(a) makes, in any record, return or other document which they are
required to keep or make under such written law, an entry which
they know or have reasonable cause to believe to be false, or do not
believe to be true;
(b) permits any person whom they know or have reasonable cause to
believe to be able to read or write to vote in the manner provided for
persons unable to read or write;
(c) permits any person whom they know or have reasonable cause to
believe not to be visually impaired or a person with disability to vote in
the manner provided for persons who are visually impaired or persons
with disability, as the case may be;
(d) wilfully prevents any person from voting at the polling station at which
they know or have reasonable cause to believe such person is entitled
to vote;
(e) wilfully rejects or refuses to count any ballot paper which they know
or have reasonable cause to believe is validly cast for any candidate
in accordance with the provisions of such written law;
(f) wilfully counts any ballot paper as being cast for any candidate which
they know or have reasonable cause to believe was not validly cast
for that candidate;
(g) interferes with a voter in the casting of his vote in secret;
(h) where required under the Elections Act (No. 24 of 2011) or any other
law to declare the result of an election, fails to declare the results of
an election;
(i) except in the case of a member, officer or person authorised to do so,
purports to make a formal declaration or formal announcement of an
election result;
(j) without reasonable cause does or omits to do anything in breach of
his official duty;
(k) colludes with any political party or candidate for purposes of giving an
undue advantage to the political party or candidate;
(l) wilfully contravenes the law to give undue advantage to a candidate
or a political party on partisan, ethnic, religious, gender or any other
unlawful considerations; or
(m) fails to prevent or report to the Commission or any other relevant
authority, the commission of an electoral offence committed under this
Act,
commits an offence and is liable on conviction, to a fine not exceeding two million
shillings or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or to both.

Election Laws: Offences relating to voting in Kenya

Section 5 of the Election Offences Act
Offences relating to voting
A person who—
(a) forges, counterfeits, defaces or destroys any ballot paper or the official
perforation, stamp or mark on any ballot paper;
(b) without authority supplies any ballot paper to any person;
(c) sells or offers for sale any ballot paper to any person;
(d) purchases or offers to purchase any ballot paper from any person;
(e) not being a person entitled to be in possession of any ballot paper
which has been marked with any official perforation, stamp or mark
has any such ballot paper in his possession;
(f) puts into any ballot box anything other than the ballot paper which he
is authorised by law to put in;
(g) without authority takes out of a polling station any ballot paper or is
found in possession of any ballot paper outside a polling station;
(h) not being an election official and not being authorised, removes
election material from a polling station before, during or after an
election;
(i) without authority destroys, takes, opens, disposes of or otherwise
interferes with any election material in use or intended to be used for
the purposes of an election;
(j) without authority prints any ballot paper or what purports to be or is
capable of being used as a ballot paper at an election;
(k) for the purposes of an election, manufactures, constructs,
imports, has in his possession, supplies or uses, or causes to
be manufactured, constructed, imported, supplied or used, any
appliance, device or mechanism by which a ballot paper may be
extracted, affected or manipulated after having been deposited in a
ballot box during the polling at any election;
(l) not being authorised to do so under this Act, makes any mark on any
ballot paper issued to any person other than to himself;
(m) votes at any election when they are not entitled to vote;
(n) votes more than once in any election;
(o) interferes with a voter in the casting of his vote in secret;
(p) pretends to be unable to read or write so as to be assisted in voting; or
(q) pretends to be visually impaired or suffering from any other disability
so as to be assisted in voting,
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.

Election Laws: Offences Relating To Multiple Registration of Voters in Kenya

Section 4 of the Election Offenses Act
4. Offences relating to multiple registration as a voter
(1) A person who—
(a) being registered as a voter in a register of voters applies to be
registered as a voter—
(i) in any other register of voters, otherwise than in substitution of
his subsisting registration; or
(ii) in the same register of voters;
(b) having applied to be registered in a register of voters which application
has not been either granted or rejected, applies to be registered in the
same register of voters or in another register of voters;
(c) simultaneously makes two or more applications to be registered as
a voter; or
(d) having been disqualified by an election court, applies to be registered
as a voter,
commits an offence is liable on conviction, to a fine not exceeding one million
shillings or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or to both.
(2) Any person who commits an offence under subsection (1) shall, in addition
to the penalty provided in subsection (1), not be eligible to vote in that election or
in the next election.
(3) A member or officer of the Commission or a person who aids another
person to register as a voter more than once commits an offence and is liable on
conviction, to a fine not exceeding one million shillings or to imprisonment for a
term not exceeding one year or to both.
(4) A candidate who aids a person to register as a voter more than once,
commits an offence and is liable on conviction, to a fine not exceeding one million
shillings or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or to both and shall
not be eligible to contest in the ongoing general election.

Election Laws:The Kenya Election Offenses Act

ELECTION OFFENCES ACT
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
Section
1. Short title.
2. Interpretation.
3. Offences relating to register of voters.
4. Offences relating to multiple registration as a voter.
5. Offences relating to voting.
6. Offences by members and staff of the Commission.
7. Maintenance of secrecy at elections.
8. Personation.
9. Bribery.
10. Undue influence.
11. Use of force or violence during election period.
12. Use of national security organs.
13. Offences relating to elections.
14. Use of public resources.
15. Participation in elections by public officers.
16. Unlawful expenditure.
17. Offences relating to the use of technology in elections.
18. Employers to allow employees reasonable period for voting.
19. Aiding and abetting offences.
20. Breach of Electoral Code of Conduct.
21. Powers of prosecution.
22. Proceedings to be commenced within two years.
23. Power to appoint special magistrates.
24. General penalty.
25. Repeal of Part VI of No. 24 of 2012.