Provisional results trickle in after Kenya vote

Kenyans are patiently awaiting results of the historic general elections held on Monday as counting of votes cast is going on in most polling centers. The voting officially closed at 5:00 p.m. local time on Monday, although the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) extended it in areas where polling stations had opened late. The provisional results are being relayed live to various tallying centers with presidential candidate from Jubilee Alliance Uhuru Kenyatta, the deputy prime minister, taking an early lead of 54.3 percent, followed by 41.1 percent scored by Prime Minister Raila Odinga. The outcome was based on 32 percent of the results counted. Millions of enthusiastic Kenyan voters jammed polling centers Monday, when the general situation remained calm despite reports of separate attacks and a few hitches such as failure of the biometric voting machines. At least 14 people were reportedly killed in the vote-related violence, mostly in the East African country's Indian Ocean port city Mombasa. The IEBC acknowledged it was facing challenges in many polling stations countrywide. Addressing a news conference on Monday night in Nairobi, IEBC Chairman Isaack Hassan said there was no further incidents of insecurity reported. "We are encouraged by the fact that despite the unfortunate incident in Mombasa and Kilifi where police officers were killed, voters defied the security threat and still turned out in large numbers to vote," Hassan told journalists. The IEBC placed voter turnout at more than 70 percent. The election was conducted for the first time under the new Constitution in 47 counties, 290 constituencies and 1,450 county assembly wards. There were six elective positions: president, governor, senator, county woman representative member of Parliament and county assembly ward representative. The IEBC had to postpone elections for representatives in five county assembly wards to next Monday due to a mix-up of candidates' details in the ballot papers. Hassan thanked Kenyans for exercising exemplary patience and urged them to remain calm as the results trickle in. "The Commission will announce confirmed results once the returning officers come with duly filled statutory forms," Hassan pledged. He also announced that IEBC technicians will provide a live feed for media houses to access provisional results at the same time they are received by the IEBC. According to Alojz Peterle of the EU observer mission, most of the polling stations opened on time and the huge voter turnout was a positive element that Kenyans understood the importance of elections. The former prime minister of Slovakia, who is heading the 65- member EU mission, said the calm and patience of Kenyans waiting to vote was an expression that they knew the importance of elections. "Though in some polling stations the biometric verification kit malfunctioned, there were no indications that it affected voting due to the alternative use of the register which proved effective. " The electoral body has embraced the use of mobile phones and BVR kits in this historic election to hasten transmission of results for final tallying in Nairobi. This is a departure from the past where results were brought physically from polling centers across the country, some in remote locations.