The Question

This question was posted on behalf of Ms Joan Mudindi Vwamu, Member of NGO/Civil Society Organization in Kenya

Kenya will be holding seven electoral contests in one day in 2012. Considering the feedback to "Ballot paper design for multiple elections", this seems to a be relatively rare approach.

Is there any other country that holds so many elections in one day and if there is, what are the key factors to consider ensuring the results are released timely and that the process is free and fair?

In Kenya the ballot paper is not pictorial; voters depend on party symbols which are sometimes confusing.

Having made the party funding competitive in relation to the number of votes garnered and the introduction of an independent candidate, the ballot paper is going to be extremely long.

I would like to know approximately how much time will one voter take to complete the seven ballots? And is it possible for timely results and efficiency to be achieved in such a scenario?

Kind regards

Joan Mudindi Vwamu

Summary of responses

Holding several elections at the same time is not uncommon, but it does present its own particular challenges and a wide range of factors needs to be taken into account.

Examples

Several replies refer to the Sudanese general elections of 2010, where there were eight electoral contests held in the north and 12 in the south, with considerable logistical success. It is, however, also pointed out that this was a different set of circumstances, with voters being able to vote over a four day period.

The Philippines is given as a case where a great many posts, from the national to the local level, are contested on the same day and on a single ballot. This is seen to work partly because voters are used to this system.

The United States is mentioned as a country where seven or more electoral contests in one day is not uncommon and is generally done by e-voting. The technology greatly facilitates both the voting and the counting, and means the process is not much more time consuming than holding a single election.

Zanzibar conducts five ballots at once. Stress is laid on the importance of suitable polling arrangements and polls closing in good time to enable timely counting. Pakistan is also mentioned as somewhere that has five simultaneous electoral contests.

The Ukrainian election of 2002 saw seven elections held simultaneously and is described as “a mess” citing, among other things, the number of polling staff and number of voters per polling station.

Key factors

Although the factors that influence the success of holding multiple elections simultaneously vary in importance from context to context, depending on what one expert refers to as the “electoral culture,” several are repeatedly emphasised by the experts in their replies.

Adequate planning is seen by the majority as absolutely key to the success of these elections in Kenya. Great emphasis is put on adequate voter education. Voters must know what they are voting for and how to vote. Voter education should include pictorial instructions of how to vote.

Logistical planning is seen as crucial. It is recommended to carry out mock voting to get an understanding of the logistical challenges involved. Consideration must be given to the additional space and staff needed in the polling station. Clear and simple procedures need to be in place for voters to follow. It is recommended to stagger the casting of votes within the polling station, i.e. receive ballot(s) for some contests, vote, and then proceed and receive more ballots, as was the case in South Sudan in 2010.

Several replies strongly advocate separate and colour coded ballot papers and boxes. One long ballot is seen by many as problematic, both for the voter and when counting. It must, however, be taken into account that separate ballots papers and boxes will increase the number of people required to be present in the polling station and making crowding a potential problem. The impact of the electoral system or systems used on ballot design is also raised.

The capacity of the EMB to adequately design and implement seven electoral contests is also highlighted.  Is it stressed that there must be contingency plans for potential scenarios and problems, i.e. what if a voter wishes to vote in some of the contests but not others? Are all voters eligible to vote in all elections?

Regarding the amount of time required to vote, the organisation and management of the polling stations are seen as key, with the numbers of voters per polling station being crucial.

In terms of counting and announcing the results, more than one expert advises that the EMB will have to prioritise the counting of the different contests. Furthermore, the EMB must be prepared for delays and have a clear communication strategy that is “transparent, credible an open” and that can “sustain confidence in the process.” One reply strongly recommends a computer-based Results Management System (RMS) for the processing of multiple election results.

Examples of related ACE Articles and Resources

Encyclopaedia:

·         Eligibility for simultaneous elections 

Support and Advice:

·         Consolidated reply: Ballot paper design for multiple elections 

·         Consolidated reply: Holding election simultaneously or separately

Regions and Countries:

·         Kenya country page 

Names of contributors

1.       Andrew Ellis

2.       Melle Bakker

3.       Peter Eicher

4.       Ingo Boltz

5.       Monte McMurchy

6.       Hugh Fulton

7.       Issa Khamis Khamis

8.       Juma Thomas Otieno

9.       Koki Muli

10.   Khalid Waheed

11.   Ahmed Issack

12.   Amon Emmanuel Chaligha

13.   Deji Olaore

14.   Joan Mudindi Vwamu

15.   Jorge Guzman

16.   Luie Tito Guia

17.   Charles Benjamin Nsimbi-Kabugujjo

18.   Paul O’Grady

19.   Chris Kyriakides

20.   Bhojraj Pokharel

21.   Plamen Tonchev

It would be worth conducting some simulations if this is possible - although beware of using EMB staff to act as voters, as they are likely to be considerably faster than real voters!

I don't recall seven elections being conducted simultaneously, but when I have seen several elections take place at once my instinct is that voters are entirely able to cope (even if the different elections use different electoral systems) as long as they are engaged in the election and as long the procedures are simple and clearly explained.  It is helpful to use different coloured ballot papers for each election, matched by colour coded ballot boxes (procedures should require verification of all boxes before any counting takes place).  Layout of polling stations, circulation within polling stations and the number of booths provided are also important.

Response posted on behalf of Melle Bakker, secretary-director Dutch Electoral Council

In the Netherlands in general we do not have more than one contest on the same day. We have combined local elections in the bigger cities with sublocal elections though. In such cases we recommand the use of voting cards + ballot papers + ballot boxes in different colours. We do not have information about the amount of time needed for several contests nor for the counting of votes.

Kind regards,

Melle Bakker

It is quite common to have seven or more contests on a single election day in the United States (including national, state and local offices, plus judges in some jurisdictions, as well as propositions or referendums put to voters at the same time as the election), but this is probably not a very useful comparison for Kenya.  Voting in the U.S. is generally done on machines, although many states still have a paper ballot that can be read and counted by a machine.  In general, voting does not seem to take much longer here with many contests than with a few – perhaps because voters often vote party tickets or simply don’t vote on the offices and/or questions with which they are less familiar.  Since counting is initially done by machine, preliminary results are just as quick no matter the number of contests. 

Adding support for multiple and differently colored ballots and boxes. You need to avoid "one huge ballot paper" - they are hard to handle for the voter, and counting them is tricky because you need lots of space. The Dutch ballot paper in 2010 was big enough to cause trouble counting, and that's probably small compared to what you would get with 7 contests on one ballot.

Multiple electoral contests entailing multiple candidates seeking electoral sanction for different public offices is not unusual; however caution and concern must be exercised when multiple electoral contests occur where the EMB is regarded as less than robust or where electoral issues connceted with normative probity are of concern.

Advance civic electoral planning coupled with civic electoral education and sensitization will need to be considered as advance logistical planning will bear an importance as to how the election period unfolds.

Multiple electoral contests even in regions of challenge are indeed doable provided that all electoral logistics are well planned and considered.

The 2007 Kosovo election included three layers;  Assembly, Municipal Assembly and Mayoral, although subsequently separated, with local elections held in 2009 and Assembly in 2010; it is likely that all three will be contested simultaneously again in 2013.

One issue is why simultaneous elections occur; the need for periodic elections; designed / accidental locked simultaneous election cycles; attempts to overcome voter fatigue / reduce cost, etc. The main issues most often are voter awareness and voter ability to effectively vote in multiple elections, and EMB ability to design and implement.

Specific relevant issues relating to Kosovo’s 2007 election which may of interest to you were;

·         Colour coding of ballots;

·         Implications for EMB resources to manage simultaneous elections

·          Requirement to recruit two polling station teams, one to vote and one to count;

·          Undertake voting time and motion studies on multiple turnout predictions (best and worst case 70-40%; city/country resident; old / young etc );

·         Emphasis on preventing family voting using excuse of “complexity” of ballot

·         Emphasis on voter information, observer briefing and polling team training as two electoral systems in operation (first past the post and list PR);

·         Very extensive (and costly) EMB voting TV adverts  

·         Electoral system impact on ballot design - both Assembly and Municipal Assembly were open list requiring additional candidate books to overcome unwieldy ballot papers. Voters then had to vote for party on left of ballot and mark up to 10 candidates on right of ballot having consulted both candidate brochures (also colour coded). Mayoral ballot – only mark the preferred candidate

·         Post election; review the number of spoiled / blank ballots as a possible indication of voter confusion

·         Clear protocols on what happens if voters refuse any of the ballots

·         EMB decision on prioritisation of counting – Assembly first then Mayoral, the Municipal Assembly given (1) importance of forming government and (2) Mayoral system may result in second round run off as it did.

·         Certification of results also dependent upon disputes resolution and fraud investigation outcomes which may result in re-runs in some locations. EMB management ability tested to  ensure re-runs held and along with Mayoral second round both which of course results in subsequent trenches of counting.

·         Introduction of parallel vote tabulation by observers for Assembly election to increase integrity and faith in process

·         Ability to effectively undertake out of Kosovo voting programme (by-mail) not without issue due to constrained timelines

·         Considerable external relations exercise to ensure access, transparency and faith

·         In any event, local tolerance for certification depends upon clear communication with all stakeholders, EMB being able to instil confidence, clear road map for certification process, timely  redress of any appeals and complaints

·         At this stage EMB has not considered election technology but has been advised to undertake reviews

it is very interesting to here that Kenyan are holding seven ballots at once. In Zanzibar since 1995 election we are conducting at least five ballots at once. these include the Zanzibar Elections and the United republi of Tanzania elections. In we always conducting three elections namely presidential election, the Members of House of Representative Election and local mcouncilor elections. while for the United republic the presidential elections and Members of Parliaments are elected.

In October 2010 Zanzibaris cast five ballots once for the two elections. the sucsess of casting these ballots depends on the polling arrangement by the EMB. for instance poling stated at seven am and ended at four pm.The number of voters per poling satation were 350 and if need be should notb exceed 399 pewr poling station.  

the result were declared on time as poling station were closed at four this gave ample time for pos and thier agent to count votes as early as possible. experience has shown that vote counting start with presidential votes then Member of The House of Representative and finally to the local councilors.

Note that two elections are conducted in one poling station by two independent Electoral Commissioins i. e. ZEC anc NEC. Therefore it is possible for seven contests at once but arrangements are very important

For a country like Kenya to have seven electoral offices balloted in a day is a great test to the yet to be commissioned body. It is a daunting task in waiting. To look at whether it will be manageable; I want to say yes but at a price. The price is that the country will have to be ready to spend on the electioneering. Two, the EMBs must ready itself in form of what kind of personnel it will have and people education as participants of a new system in electing their leaders. Three, the issue of the kind of ballot is very tricky. If the IEBC will opt for one mega ballot paper then the time taken in sorting out the contentions among the agents of different candidates and parties will have to delay the relaying of results. And what of if there is discrepancy with marking one candidate say senator wrongly and governor correctly. It will have its disadvantages that the EMBs must quickly address. On the other hand, having independent position's ballots as has been will also mean alot of paper work for the electorate. it requires alot of patience at the polling booth for a voter to fill all correctly. The issue of time still comes.

In my view, this kind of voting may require machinery to aid the exercise in form of Electronic Voter Management (EVM) customized for this scenario. The logistics are so daunting for the success of this 2012 event. Imagine the number of ballot boxes per polling station, the vehicles to be used, the kind of constituency electoral warehouse, etc.

The other issue still also making this complex is the electoral administrative units overlapping in form of leadership (i.e. the Regional Coordinators) which is not in tandem with the new constitutional requirement of Counties (devolution), and the practice of the Returning Officer taking results to Nairobi. Will the results be taken in piece meal that the one which is declared taken and then back for another, or the ROs will with hold the submission to Nairobi of all results till every announcement at the constituency is finalised.

These are issues that must be addressed very promptly to see 2012 having the credibility it deserves. In comparison the successes of IIEC in magnitude should not be used to project the 2012 event but as a hope of some trial. One important thing to do is to carry a test voting in many localities, this means the electoral managers at the very local levels should be already on job to get acquinted with the systems under trial by either IIEC or IEBC.

Actually, the next general elections in Kenya will have 6 ballots not 7. These will be 1. President/Deputy, 2. Member of National Assembly (elected from geographical constituencies - 290), 3. Special women ballot (elected from Counties - 47); 4. Senator - elected from counties for the Senate House; 5. Governor/Deputy each elected in each of the 47 counties; and, 6. Members of County Assemblies each elected from Wards. The other special seats will be elected on the basis on party lists - proportionate to the number of seats a party wins to Parliament (NA and Senate) and County Assemblies. Each election will have its own ballot paper and ballot box as has been the case before. The only concern will relate to the number of candidates for each election - this is to be expected. The best solution for this is to ensure that the design of the ballot paper is clear and less confusing - political party symbols should be distinct and clearly printed - perhaps the next EMB may consider including photographs of the candidates alongside their political party symbols (we shall also have independent candidates this time round) in all the 6 ballot papers. 

In the past only presidential ballot papers bore the photograph of the candidate besides party symbols. Parliamentary and Civic bore only party symbols and were indeed quite confusing.

In 2010 I observed the Sudan elections in which there were 8 ballot papers in the North and 12 ballot papers in the South. Considering the vastness of the Sudan, its inadequate infrastructure and the high levels of illiteracy and lack of voter education, it was a small wonder that there were not as many spoilt ballots as one would have expected. Neither were the majority of voters assisted!

The elections took 4 days - Monday to Thursday and counting at polling stations begun on Friday. 

The size of some ballot papers were also quite long. I was in Khartoum - Omduruman. The average voting time was 11 minutes for many voters! Although some voted within 4 - 6 minutes. These were pretty fast.

In the past elections in Kenya the average voting time is 3-5 minutes with only 3 ballot papers - it was longer in 1992, and the period kept on reducing in 1997, 2002 and 2007. It was interesting to note during the referendum of 2005 and 2010 the average time of voting in most polling stations was not that significantly lower, yet it was only one ballot paper. There are a number of factors that determine the speed of polling - the most important proper organization and management of the polling stations. In some recent elections and referenda in Kenya there has been confusion in the manner in which the polling stations are arranged - this is because in some polling centres there are often many polling stations - and the voters register is often split with voters required to queue in line with the alphabet letter of their surname - sometimes confusion is caused by the fact that the letter of alphabet used by polling officials to identify some voters is not always consistent - some, its their first names, while others its their surname. 

The next general elections in Kenya shall be held under a new constitution and new legislation. If they follow the past experiences - it is likely that ballot papers will be colour-coded to correspond with colour-coded ballot boxes as always been the case. Unfortunately however, this means that in one polling room there will be a lot more polling clerks, agents and so on. This will cause some crowding - which will require strict crowd control. 

It is of great importance that the EMB conducts adequate voter education and provides consistent voter information. In addition, the EMB needs to work in very close collaboration with civil society, stakeholders such as political parties etc, voters and the media to disseminate proper and adequate voter education/information to voters.

The design of the ballot papers is yet to be determined and it is important to make this as pictorial and colourful/coded as possible. Kenyans have voted on long, and confusing ballot papers before; the EMB however needs to be extremely vigilant and awake to all potential risks.

According to Kenya's new constitution, all ballot papers will be counted at polling stations. The results shall be expected to be transmitted to the constituency centres/counties depending on the elections and then to Nairobi Hq. There will be delays. The EMB needs to determine the fastest and the most secure method of transmission of results. They also need to design a communication strategy that is transparent, credible and open so that they can sustain confidence in the process until all the results are received, tallied and announced. Electronic transmission of results - via sms/mobile phones is possible and it is an option. Use of technology should be kept as transparent and accountable as possible - and uniform - we kenyans have trust issues! The EMB must keep the public fully informed and involved in the results process. The government/politicians/EMB should keep away from making statements that can cause alarm and anxiety. Results can be displayed as they come and uniformly to avoid results from one region preceding others etc... There are many ways how all these can be done; but great care and organisation needs to go to the planning process; nothing should be left to chance.

Though it is little bit difficult and time consuming to cast more than one vote at one time but still it is manageable.

Here in Pakistan the General elections on National and Provincial elections are held on the same day and voter is supposed to cast two votes using two ballots at same time. More interesting and  important are Local Government elections where five ballots are to be used to cast at one time. Each union council of local government has got five categories of seats, i.e, Nazim(Chairman).General Councillors (Male & Female), Peasant /workers (Male & Female) and minority seat. Each voter line up and after receiving five ballots from polling staff use to stamp each one on  one of the symbols of his choice and put in ballot box. Usually 1000 to 1200 voters are assigned to one polling station having two to four separate booths. It can be said that 250 to 300 voters are generally assigned to one booth who cast their ballots.

So it is manageable even to cast seven ballots as is proposed in Kenya.

More detail can be given and if possible assistance in developing mechanism can be given to concerned authorities if so desired as we have successfully under taken the task.

Response posted on behalf of Ahmed Issack, Secretary of the Pakistan Election Commission

Good question from my Kenyan friend Mudindi. We at the electoral commission are actually dealing with this issue and have commissioned studies on best practices. We are also planning to hold mock elections in Kajiado and Malindi districts to do a test run on the same. I look forward to getting more responses from others. Regards to all

Ahmed Issack

Kenya will not be the first to conduct seven elections in one day. In Tanzania Mainland it is common to hold 3 elections (Presidential, Parliamentary and Councillor elections) in one day while in Tanzania Zanzibar it is not unusual to hold 5 elections (Union Presidential and Union Member of Parliament together with Zanzibar Presidential, Member of House of Representatives and Council elections). All these elections are conducted in one polling station. Normally the arrangement is such that a voter in Zanzibar would start with the Zanzibar elections where in a voter is given 3 ballot papers to cast before proceeding to another official for union elections.

Voter education is required with graphic scenarios of the voting process in the polling station. Ballot boxes must have distinct collors with leads having collors that match with stripes of ballot papers.

I observed the April 2010 Sudan elections in El Obeid (Noth Cordofan Region) where they held 8 elections. In Southern Sudan voters were given 10 ballot boxes. It is therefore possibe even for Kenya to hold 7 elections. Efficiency is possible if the number of voters per polling station is not more than 400 hundred and voting closes at 4 pm (in Tanzania voting starts at 7 am and closes at 4 pm).

Voter education is required and stakeholder consultation is paramount. Without the cooperation of political parties, candidates and civil societies  it will not be possible to have a viable polling station that will accomodate polling staff international observers, local observers as well as party/candidate agents all in one station.

I think holding 7 elections in one day where there has been some reservations about the Election Commission's capacity and inadequate voter education is recipe for chaos. This might be an invitation to another crisis that everybody is trying to prevent in the forthcoming elections. Some people have referred to Sudan elections with 8-12 ballots, but voters in Sudan have more than one day to cast their votes. In Sudan, there was also a robust voter education preceding the elections. I was involved in this process in especially in South Suda (Juba, Torit and Wau), I hope Kenyans will have the same level of voter education.

Zambians will be going to polls on September 20 for their Tripartite elections: Presidential, Parliamentary and Local Goverment, they will be having the three elections in one day. The ballot papers are color-coded, in addiiton, pictures of the Presidential candidates will also appear on the presidentila ballot paper. 

Finally, it will be interesting to know why seven elections will be held in one day. I hope the Election Commission is not trying to save money and in the process creates unnecessary logistical and administrative challenges.      

Thanks for your responses, they are of great help and please keep them coming. It is true that the the Kenya constitution (2010) provides for six elective posts as per now but there is a provision on Urban areas and cities which calls for participation by the residence in the governance of the urban areas and cities article 184(c). This may call for mayoral elections that might be conducted by the EMB, currently, discussions on this are taking place creating a possibility of the seventh election. 

As noted above, in Sudan voters had more than one day to vote hence makes the scenario different and as indicated there is going to be a mock election soon. Hope this will give us an idea of how this will be. I believe that Kenya will greatly benefit from this discussion. Thanks.

Response posted on behalf of Jorge Guzman

The Sudan general elections of 2010 are a good example of how to handle different elections, voters in the south had to manage 12 different ballot papers, president, vicepresident, governor, and three ballot papers for each of the three assambleis, national, south sudan and state.

It was organized not with only one ballot paper, but one BP for each election, the BP ere design in different colors and shaped to help differentiation and special procedures for voting were applied, basically to use three or four different ballot paper issuers. So the voter goes through Identification officer, receive, first three ballots , lets say the president, the vice president and the governor, that are individual, names ad photos, mark the ballots, deposit the ballots in the box, receive the next set of three, lets say the three for the national assembly, (geographical, political parties and women), mark those ballots vote, and receive the next three and so on. Of course the civic education campaign has to be very strong , but it is possible.

I hope I got the question right and here is my humble sharing.

In the Philippines, there can be as many as 33 to 35 posts at stake every regular election depending on the constituency. The Philippine constitution requires national and local elections to be held at the same time and on the same day and these elections are held every three years. The contested positions in a typical rural constituency are: 1 President, 2 Vice-Presidents, 12 Senators, and 1 Party for the Party List System, which are filled by at large election nationwide; 1 Representative, elected in a legislative district or constituency; 1 governor, 1 vice governor, 2 to 5 Provincial Council members, elected within a province; and 1 mayor, 1 vice mayor, and 6 to 10 city or town council member, elected within a city or town.

All these posts are contained in one or in single ballot given to every voter and dropped in one ballot box in every polling station.

Prior to the 2010 national elections, when Philippines used for the first time optical scan system for counting, voting was done by writing-in the name of the candidates chosen for every contested position. There were 200 hundred registered voters per polling station, with about 70 to 80 percent turn out, and voting was between 7 in the morning and 3 in the afternoon. Counting of votes was required to be conducted right away until the winners are determined. 

Votes were counted at the polling station by reading the votes and tallying them in election returns. Tabulation of polling station results were done manually at the city or municipal tabulation centers. City and Municipal results are tabulated at the provincial tabulation centers. Results of election for president, vice-presidents, senators, and party-list elections were obtained by tabulating provincial results.

Under this system, winning town officials are known in about 2 days, provincial officials, in 5 to 7 days, national officials in a month. This was when there were no "pre-proclamation" contests. It is not uncommon to have a situation where in some local areas there were no declared winners yet 45 days after elections, or at the time that terms of office were supposed to start 

In the 2010 election, because of the adoption of an optical scan system of counting at the polling station and electronic transmission of results, the ballot used contained pre-printed names of candidates. But just like in the previous manual elections, only one ballot was used for all the positions. The ballots only contained the list candidates per contested position; there were no photos or symbols. Voters were supposed to mark ovals beside the names of chosen candidates. There were about 160 names in every single ballot printed on both the front and back faces. Although the number of voters per polling station was increased to 600 to 1,000 voters because of the expectedly more efficient counting by machines, voting time was extended from 7 am to 3 pm under the manual system to 7 am to 6 pm.

The Philippine election commission (COMELEC) wrestled with the logistical and operational nightmare that came the first ever automated election in the country. There were long queues at the 75,000 polling stations in the country, with voters waiting up to 5 to 6 hours for them to get the chance to vote. There were reported instances of voters having been discouraged because of the very inconvenient process, but generally voters were patient enough to vote. 

The automation of the elections was intended to address the problem of tampering of tabulation documents at the town and provincial tabulation process. This was seen as the biggest problem that besetting Philippine election. In fact the 2004 Presidential election was put into question because of allegations of document tampering.

But generally, cumbersome as they were, the polling station voting situation has been generally tolerable, perhaps because Filipino voters have been used to it since post war elections (1945), or even earlier. In other words, context is important. Election managers must consider social acceptability of the system to be used, and the appropriateness of the technology to be employed. The important thing is that the process is acceptable to the voting population.

I hope this helps.    

Joan you do not have to look far.  In Uganda just next door we have been conducting 4 ballots in 1 elections in one day since the 2006 general elections.  It is easier to use a different ballot for each category e.g 1 for presidential, 1 for parliamentary and 1 each for the special interest groups (women etc..).  It is then the polling station that is laid out with 4 balloting booths and the presiding officer has an assistant issuing out a  ballot for each category.  The voter starts with the presiding who issues him/her a ballot, proceeds to a bo0oth to vote,  onto the next assistant for the next ballot, vote and so forth. In our experience 800 voters can comfortably go thru the exercise per polling station in the 10 hour period(7am -5 pm).  The counting then takes place one category at a time starting with the highest office.  It has worked for us maybe you can look at it.

Charles Benjamin

As other contributors have pointed out, it is not unusual to hold multiple elections simultaneously. In Ukraine in 2002, seven elelctions were held simultaneously with a max of 3,000 voters per ps - it was a mess!  

Factors that ought to be considered include:

whether polling takes place on one day or more

how many registered voters are asigned per polling station

how many polling staff are allocated for the voting (and equally important)

will the same persons count the votes (they will be tired and the count could take a long time)

Is there capacity also at the district and central levels to aggregate results in a timely manner

what are the procedures to deal with deposited in the wrong box 

are the results sheets for each contest clearly identifiable

NB voters will have to be patient, as polling can take a long time.  

I concur with most of the points raised by my fellow electoral colleagues. The issue of color-coded ballot papers with matching color-coded ballot-boxes, as well as, processing voters in a controlled flow (i.e., casting one or more ballots before moving to another set of ballots within the same voting station) are well recommended. Additional Polling station staff will serve to better manage this process.

Holding multiple elections simultaneously is not uncommon and indeed lessons can be learnt from past experiences in other countries. Nonetheless, a word of caution; in Elections we are dealing with different countries having different: electoral laws; levels of literacy; familiarity and levels of comfort/trust with their Electoral processes and even their EMB; maturity of their democracies; and so on. For brevity's sake, let us refer to this aspect as the country’s “electoral culture”.  Some aspects may be accepted and work well in one country but owing to the prevailing “electoral culture” may yield different results or fail to work in another country.

Also when analysing and deliberating such electoral matters it is imperative to always keep in mind that the EMB is simply there to implement the Electoral Law. On some matters the Law is silent and these matters are left up to the discretion of EMB; on others the Law is explicit and the EMB has no latitude but to strictly follow the Electoral Law. (As I am not familiar with the Kenyan Electoral Law I cannot comment further; also some of our comments and suggestions may not be applicable if explicitly excluded by the Kenyan Electoral Law).

I strongly believe that in all decisions we must adopt a holistic approach. We must consider that an amendment to one part of the electoral process is anticipated to have an impact on other parts of the electoral process. For example, holding numerous elections on the same day will have an impact on (in no order of importance):

• Ballot Paper Design (e.g., 1: requirement for color-coded Ballot Papers matching the relevant color-coded Ballot Box; 2: Ballot Paper design should be targeted at being easy to understand and process by the common voter so as to reduce the average voting time; and so on…)
• An increased number of distinct ballot papers and ballot boxes required per voting station;
• the layout and additional space requirements of the voting station;
• Reducing the maximum number of voters that should be handled under each Voting Station so as to avoid excessively long voter queues and also delays in results processing;
• Improved planning and controlled flow of voters through the voting station;
• (What if a voter wishes to vote for only some of the elections but has no interest or does not wish to vote for the others? Or may be ineligible to vote for all elections? How will these instances be handled without disrupting the process? Also consider whether such cases could create confusion in the results verification process –  think along the lines of the information recorded on the Polling Station Results Slip and how the number of voters will tally to the number of votes cast.) 
• a higher number of staff will be required per voting station to better manage the flow of voters through the voting station; Also, will a single team/shift of voting station staff manage the voting process and all the results counting? If so, then results will take longer to be finalized. Also as the voting station staff become more and more fatigued so will the potential for errors increase.
• Considerably improved voter education will be required; 
• Improved handling of the now more complex logistics;
• Consider what will happen if one set of ballots for 1 of the 6 elections is incorrect or has not arrived at the relevant polling station. Will the voting staff decide to proceed with voting using only the available ballots or postpone? 
• If the finger is marked with indelible ink then how will this be treated for a partial availability of say 5 out of 6 Ballots. 
• In any event, the EMB must be clear on their directives on how voting station staff should proceed so that the process is not unfairly biased in one area vs. another. 
• Should the law not be explicit on any matter then in order to safeguard the acceptance of the Electoral Process that will be implemented by the EMB it would be advisable for the EMB to seek a directive from relevant Court presiding over Electoral matters. Should for whatever reason such a legal directive/decision not be possible then in the very least, a common understanding and/or consensus should be reached with the political parties and relevant matters covered in a formal document.
• and so on.

Another aspect that must be considered is the tree-like top-down electoral demarcation structure of the country for all the Elections that are to be held concurrently. Do all 6 (or 7) Elections share a common single demarcation structure from the National level right down to Local Councillor level?  In Dem Rep of Congo this was not the case – a different number of “provinces” existed for Legislative Elections and Provincial Elections. In such a case, then carefully consider the potential impact on the complexity and potential confusion associated with results processing; if this leads to confusion and errors in processing then it could delay or even stall the process.

Another issue that may complicate matters is whether all voters eligible to vote for each of the simultaneously held Elections? (If not then this could seriously complicate processing and control of voters at the Polling Station and even lead to errors or excessively long voter queues and frustration)

Now consider the results processing. Ordinarily results are processed in sequential order starting from the most senior election (e.g., Presidential) and proceeding to the more junior elections (e.g., Local Councillor). Thus the Presidential results may come out early, while the municipal/councillor election results will come out last. Coming back to the point on Electoral Law – what does the Kenyan Electoral Law state regarding the permitted timeline for the EMB to announce each of these Election’s results.  What is the likelihood and the risk of the EMB not meeting each of those deadlines? (Also bear in mind that even though the law may not impose strict limits on time, in practise, excessive delays in announcing any results are ill-advised as it may give rise to suspicion and allegations of results manipulation.) Consider what are the risks of long delays in announcing any of these results?

A number of regions in the country are bound to complete processing well ahead of others; whilst other regions are bound to fall far behind. (For example, it likely that results will be coming in for Provincial Elections while other regions will still be submitting their Presidential results). On the issue of the Election Results processing one issue is clear -- with multiple Elections being processed simultaneously a robust, computer-based Results Management System (RMS) is strongly recommended! Such a system must have built-in vital functionality that is essential to assist EMB staff in processing the results (i.e., automated verification checks for each polling station result, manual authentication of results, secure transmission capability, strong encryption, process auditing and so on). Beyond simply assisting in the calculation of the results, an RMS system can also be utilized to announce and even publish the results online (on a dedicated results website) with minimal time delays. The Results Management System (RMS) developed for Tanzania is a good example. ( For additional info please seehttp://www.tz.undp.org/ESP/docs/Newsletters/ESP_Newsletter_No_14_(26_Oct_2010).pdf )

Now let us turn our attention to what happens before the actual Election Day event. Multiple simultaneous elections may prove a challenge to both the Candidates and the Voters. If we consider six simultaneous elections (i.e., assuming the President and Vice President will run on a common ballot and they’ll campaign on a common platform/message) then it is safe to assume that campaigning will take place on six levels. Throw in the independent candidates into the mix and the question becomes how is it envisaged that this campaigning will be realized and what will its impact be? Let us now consider this from the perspective of the voters; will a barrage of campaigning at 6 or 7 Election levels lead to greater political insight or will it lead to voter confusion and possible voter fatigue? If the number of political parties enjoying strong political support is small then it may aid to simplify matters; if the playing field is more wide open then confusion may reign especially for the lower contested levels.

The speed of voting is another consideration mentioned earlier and the following should be considered. Based on previous elections in Kenyan, how many Candidates are expected to run on each Ballot for each Election? How is the introduction of Independent Candidates anticipated to affect this number? Are the majority of voters anticipated to have made up their mind based on Political Party lines or will they deliberate each of their selected candidate’s merits individually – the former may lead to a quicker voting process, the later to a much slower one (especially for undecided voters). 

What is of concern is that an Electoral Process should preferably be kept simple enough to be understood by the country’s citizens and maintain their interest and engagement. Also the expectations set must be realistic so as to avoid over-stretching the EMB’s staff capacity and resources.

In closing, one thing is certain… as the number of simultaneous elections planned on the same day is increased, then by comparison, the forward planning level-of-detail and quality of the operational execution by the EMB must be notably elevated.

In Nepal in the local elections 5 elections were conducted simultaneously. The same electoral staff were involved for poll management as well as for counting. It was quite complicated for both the voters and to the electoral staff.

However, in 2008 Constituent Assembly elections two ballot papers were used one for FPTP and the other for the PR side of the election. Some of the lessons we learn from this exercise are:

• Electoral law needs to be clear enough so that unnecessary disputes could not arise either during the polling or counting.
• We used two different ballot papers with different colors.
• In the polling station firstly voters were identified (we dont use ID cards), and then marked and then first FPTP ballot was given and after casting it the second ballot on PR was given to the voter. During the trail we had sensed that if both the ballot papers are provided at a time, voters will get extremely confused to handle them. Cause our illiteracy rate is also higher among the adult voters.
• 54 political parties had participated in PR election. It was not possible to adjust all those symbols (we use party/candidates symbol in ballot papers) in the same row, so we made double row and adjusted all symbols in a single ballot paper only in one side. 
• Number of voters per station and total voting time is crucial. If they do not match obviously that might invite conflict and security problems. We had a practice of a single day voting unlike Sudan where they used 7 day polling! We conducted several mock polling in different part of the country with different context. Based on its results we decided the maximum number of voters per booth. All other arrangements were guided by it.
  
• Obviously VE is crucial to smoothly conduct the elections. We used different 17 languages (which had the script) to disseminate  VE messages through the TV, Radio, FM, Daily/Weekly papers, other printed materials etc. Two volunteers (one male and one female) were drawn from the local  school (teacher) as the voter educator and were fielded in every community with a clear pictorial flip charts and other materials. They mostly visited every house hold also. EC had also extended special invitation to every household  through these volunteers with key information and messages.
  
• I will happy to share more if you need through emails plus other means.
  

The Independent Election and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), currently being set up, may have a lot to worry about before getting to the issue of voting. There are at least three major concerns at this stage:

- Given the elaborate process for the appointment of the IEBC commissioners (nomination, interviews and parliament vetting) and the capacity building requirements, it may take quite some time before the new commission becomes fully operational. The first concern is that IEBC will have little time to review the boundaries and deliver credible elections. 

- While the voter registration drive for the 2010 referendum was a successful exercise, the update to be carried out ahead of the upcoming elections cannot be neglected. Census results from eight counties, all of them in North-Eastern Province, have been cancelled. Census figures will be taken into account for the delineation of 80 new constituencies, as provided for in the new constitution. This task may be further complicated by a provision in the new constitution that the boundaries of each constituency should reflect the national quota (the total number of voters divided by the number of constituencies).