Time is now ripe for ‘None of the above’ ballot option in Kenyan general elections

Kenya's general elections planned for August 2012 according to our new constitution, provide an excellent opportunity to introduce a novel voting concept known as ‘None of the above’ (NOTA). This is a ballot option in some jurisdictions designed to allow the voter to indicate disapproval of all the candidates for a particular elective position. It is based on the principle that voter consent in any election requires the ability to say “No”, similar to what happens during referendums. Going by the chaotic, disorganized and quite often violent political nominations that pass for our political parties primaries, its imperative that this proposal be adopted into law as soon as possible by the relevant authorities mandated to oversee the 2012 elections. Allow me to explain.

Unbeknown to most voters, party nominations is actually the place where the integrity of our general elections is most often compromised and not the general elections themselves. A close scrutiny of previous general elections indicates that the disorderly conduct of the nominations is really just a gimmick for the party leadership to impose their preferred candidates on voters irrespective of their popularity.

Anecdotal evidence from the last four general elections strongly suggests that many promising candidates with strong records of integrity have been pushed out of the large parties by their better connected but corrupt rivals, who are often helped along by the party bosses during nominations. These undeserving individuals subsequently go on to win parliamentary or civic seats during the general elections under the infamous but euphoric ‘three-piece’ voting style. That is, electing your MP and Councillor based on the party of your favourite presidential candidate without any consideration to individual merit.

May I add at this point that overall voter scrutiny of candidates is bound to get worse in 2012 with the introduction of five elective positions at the ballot (Constitution of Kenya, 2010: cap 7-9). In addition to the President and Members of Parliament, voters will be expected to elect a Governor, a Senator, and County assembly representatives. These are five elections in a single day! Tragically, this is likely to result in a new ‘five-piece’ voting style.

Most voters will simply not care to check the individual profiles of the many candidates in their counties but are likely to choose based on their preference for national president and his or her party. Many undeserving candidates will therefore find their way into leadership positions by simply hiding behind a popular presidential ‘wave’ in their counties. I don’t have to provide details of the massive looting of county resources and stagnation that is likely to become the legacy of these ‘leaders’.

However, there’s one trump card the uncompromising Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution (CIC) led by Charles Nyachae can still do to earn their place in our history books – the introduction of a slot in the ballot paper for ‘none of the above’ or NOTA. This is for voters who feel dissatisfied with the quality of candidates on offer at the general elections and do not want to abstain from voting. Quite often, and this is really pathetic, many voters are compelled to choose the ‘lesser of the devils’ on offer - in short, candidates they dislike. If we had this option in the 2007 elections, I would certainly have voted for NOTA at the presidential level rather than abstaining.

In countries where this novel idea has been implemented (such as Greece, the United States of America and Spain), if the NOTA option obtains a winning majority, the election in that particular locality is nullified and another election must take place. All previous candidates are subsequently disqualified from participating. And really why not? Most voters would have sent a clear message that the candidates on offer were flawed. Despite the apparent additional costs arising from a subsequent by-election, the benefits are simply incalculable.

Besides encouraging voter turnout, this mechanism would offer voters a second golden chance to elect a more deserving leader, and for political parties to style up and nominate individuals with credible leadership records. Most important, the country would save billions that would otherwise be lost through future financial scams engineered by corrupt ‘leaders’, and the expensive investigations and litigation processes that are sure to follow such incidents. The introduction of NOTA into our ballot papers is long overdue.