Kenya Presidential Vote Tabulation Fails, ‘Computer Bug’ Blamed, Count Restarts by Hand

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What kind of a pathetic, backwards, third-world country would allow this sort of thing to happen?

Just in from BBC [emphasis added]…

Kenya’s electoral commission has said that a computer bug is to blame for a large number of rejected votes in the tallying of the presidential election.

Issack Hassan said the computer was multiplying each rejected vote by a factor of eight.

This led to huge disputes and allegations of fraud.

Vote-tallying has been restarted by hand following this and other glitches but Uhuru Kenyatta still has a large lead over Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

“For any rejected vote for any candidate, they were being multiplied by eight,” said the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairman.

The number of rejected votes has fallen dramatically from more than 330,000 – 6% – during an initial count, to 58,644.

Ah, yes. An imperfect version of “Democracy’s Gold Standard” (publicly hand-counted paper ballots at the precinct — so, perhaps we’ll call what they’ll now be using in Kenya the “Silver Standard”) to save the day again.

How long before folks realize that’s the way that every self-respecting, self-governing democracy ought to be counting ballots in their elections in the first place?

[Hat-tip Bob Patterson.]

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Reader Comments on

Kenya Presidential Vote Tabulation Fails, ‘Computer Bug’ Blamed, Count Restarts by Hand

16 Comments

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16 Responses

  1. 1)
    wanjiru Kinyanjui said on 3/7/2013 @ 2:28pm PT: [Permalink]

    I expected some trouble and it came. Kenyans are very suspicious of politicians. We are long suffering. But it might end up right this time. At least no-one seems to want violence.

  2. 2)
    Ancient said on 3/7/2013 @ 12:24am PT: [Permalink]

    My daughter’s father, Wild Bill took his Dad…The Mac Attack (the only pilot in WWII to be the only plane in a squadron to make it back after bombing Berlin, twice!) Anyway, they came back from Kenya saying, “Those are the nicest people we’ve met.” Mac had stayed in the Air Force after the war to help set up air traffic control world wide. Bill took him there because that was one of the few places in the world he hadn’t been. Bill went on to say, “Americans should leave them alone, they don’t need our over consumption.”
    I hope your country continues to takes the best ideas from our Democracy, and leaves the rest for us to straighten out!

  3. 3)
    Ancient said on 3/7/2013 @ 12:46am PT: [Permalink]

    An ya know what Mac used to tell little boys after watching John Wayne movies with them, ” That’s not real, its Hollywood. War is not good.”

  4. 5)
    Ancient said on 3/8/2013 @ 1:40am PT: [Permalink]

    Yinz folks should be damn proud, great job! Darkness will hide, and secrecy won’t hold.

  5. 8)
    Ancient said on 3/8/2013 @ 4:23am PT: [Permalink]

    Maybe we should be sending instruments instead of guns and bombs and drones! Me thinks, that is a more peaceable solution. More voice, less destructive noise and death.

  6. 11)
    Ancient said on 3/9/2013 @ 2:54pm PT: [Permalink]

    Happy feet to ALL! Instead of bombs lets ship banjos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hey There DC…OVER.

  7. 14)
    Ancient said on 3/9/2013 @ 3:53pm PT: [Permalink]

    And for posterity’s sake…What is our energy policy again?… and how does that differentiate between COMMUNIST China and us? Or has been given all over to, “the powers that be, instead of Democracy?”

  8. 15)
    Ancient said on 3/9/2013 @ 6:03pm PT: [Permalink]

    An oh yeah, if there is one fat ass I’d like to take my sweet little female Irish knuckles to, it would be babs bush for all the crap she has helped to create. Go to HELL WALLSTREET.

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