How to Manage Polling Agents in Kenya: A Practical Guide for Campaigns

Your agents are your eyes at the polling station. If they are missing, late or unsure what to do, you lose the one record that matters most: the signed results form. This guide shows how to cover every stream and get that form back to your tally team.

Count streams, not polling centres

Start with the IEBC list of polling stations for your area. In 2022 Kenya had more than 46,000 polling stations. Big polling centres, like a primary school, are split into streams. Each stream counts its own votes and fills its own results form. If a school has four streams, you need four agents, not one.

Build your list ward by ward. Your ward coordinator knows the ground. Ask them to confirm every centre and stream in their ward, and to flag any station that is new or has moved since the last election.

Plan relief agents. IEBC usually allows one agent per candidate or party inside a polling station at any one time. Polling runs from 6am to 5pm, and counting often goes late into the night. Nobody can hold a station alone for 20 hours, so plan a second person for busy streams.

For each stream, write down

Recruit the right people

A good agent is local, calm, can read and write clearly, and will stay until the end. A registered voter from the same area is best. They know the place, and the people there know them.

Avoid people who can be easily bought or pressured. Ask your ward coordinator and trusted local leaders to vouch for each agent. Keep a few reserves in every ward for the people who drop out in the last week. They always do.

Be honest about pay. Most campaigns give agents lunch, airtime and transport, and many pay a stipend. Agree the amount before election day, put it in writing and pay through M-Pesa so there is a record. Broken promises are the fastest way to lose your agents at 3pm.

Appoint and train agents properly

Paperwork matters. Give every agent a signed appointment letter from the candidate or party, and keep a copy of their ID on file. Agents must take the oath of secrecy. Submit your agent list through the channel the returning officer requires, within the IEBC timelines for your election. An agent who is not on the list may be turned away at the door.

Keep training short and practical: one or two hours, in a language your agents are comfortable with. Walk through the whole day, from arriving before 6am to signing the results form. If you can, practise with a blank copy of the form.

Give every agent a one-page sheet to keep in their pocket. It should show their station and stream, their coordinator’s number, the war room number and the key steps for the day.

What every agent must know

Keep agents fed, connected and safe on the day

Most agent problems on election day are simple: no food, a flat phone, no airtime or no way home. Solve them before they happen. Send airtime and lunch money early in the morning, not at noon. Ask every agent to carry a power bank.

Ask agents to check in by 5:30am with a simple message such as “Nimefika, stream 2.” The ward coordinator chases anyone who has not checked in by 6am and sends a reserve.

Safety comes first. If there is violence or a threat, agents should move to safety and report to their coordinator and the police. No results form is worth a life.

Get the results form back to your tally team

The results form is the reason you have agents. At the end of counting, the presiding officer fills in the form, agents sign it, and a copy is posted at the station. Your agent should check the figures, sign, and take a photo.

If your agent disagrees with the count, they should not just refuse to sign and walk away. They should write down their reasons as the form allows and call their coordinator immediately. That record matters if the result goes to court.

At your tally centre, compare every agent photo with the forms IEBC publishes on its results portal, as it did in 2022. Mark each stream as received, matching, not matching or missing, and chase missing forms by name.

Election petitions have short deadlines: 7 days after the declaration for a presidential petition and 28 days for other seats. Organise your forms the same night and talk to your lawyer early. UshindiOS PAMS keeps your stream list, agents, check-ins and form photos in one place, ward by ward. Always confirm current rules with IEBC and your lawyer.

Your tally sheet should show