The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) is procuring a digital system to scrutinise candidates for the 2027 General Election, checking their party membership, voter registration and nomination papers before clearing them to run.

Tender specifications for the Candidate Registration Management System (CRMS), reported by The Star on Thursday, require the platform to plug into the political party membership register held by the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties. Returning officers would use it to confirm whether aspirants and their supporters are registered voters and whether so-called independent candidates are in fact members of political parties.

All nominees will appear before the commission for registration between May 29 and June 11, 2027, depending on the seat they are contesting.

What the system will do

According to the specifications, the platform is expected to:

  • Validate nomination certificates against party officials who are authorised to sign them.
  • Flag independent candidates who appear on a party's membership list.
  • Record each candidate's status as registered, pending, withdrawn, deceased, disqualified or nominated.
  • Let parties and independent candidates upload nominees' details, photos and documents online.
  • Handle party top-up lists for special seats, compare party symbols for duplication, and produce ballot templates, ballot posters and registration certificates.
  • Export candidate and party details to the Electronic Results Transmission System through an interface.

The IEBC's main technology tender for 2027, the Integrated Elections Management System (IEMS) tender numbered IEBC/OIT/01/2026-2027, which opened in August and closed on September 1, already describes the CRMS as the tool returning officers use to verify and clear candidates and to produce ballot proofs. That document also requires the results transmission back end to integrate with the candidate module and the biometric voter register.

Disputes over who holds the ticket

Party membership is often contested at nomination time, especially when rival factions each claim to hold a party's ticket or when losers in primaries try to run as independents. Top-up lists for nominated seats have also drawn repeated disputes over who is included and in what order.

The Star noted that the tender does not say how conflicting membership records will be resolved, or whether the system will itself decide contested nominations. Under the law, the Registrar of Political Parties keeps party membership registers, while disputes over nominations go to the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal and the courts.

Busy calendar for the commission

The procurement comes as the commission, chaired by Erastus Ethekon, prepares for a poll it projects will have about 28.5 million registered voters. The IEBC is also recruiting a new chief executive, with nine shortlisted candidates due for interviews on November 12 and 13, and Parliament is still reworking election laws ahead of the vote.

Photos: The Star (file, polling station); Kenyans.co.ke/IEBC (Erastus Ethekon). Thumbnail design: HAMASTA MEDIA.