Kenyan Gen Z Builds ‘People’s IEBC’ to Verify Every Vote in 2027

As Kenya approaches the 2027 general elections, a young developer named Miringa is working on an ambitious project that could reshape how citizens monitor electoral processes. The “People’s IEBC,” a crowd-sourced election verification platform, aims to provide Kenyans with an independent tool to tally and verify presidential vote counts.

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A Platform for Transparency

The system, currently in its trial phase and nearing production readiness, is designed with a single purpose: verification. According to Miringa, the platform will enable any Kenyan to upload Form 34As—the official result declaration forms used at polling stations—which will then be analyzed using artificial intelligence technology.

“No one will rig the election,” Miringa has stated, outlining the system’s core mission of preventing electoral manipulation through public scrutiny.

The platform’s AI-powered verification system will cross-reference uploaded forms, flag discrepancies, and automatically calculate vote totals and percentages. These results will be displayed publicly on a website, allowing citizens to compare the crowd-sourced data with official tallies announced by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

Technical Innovation Meets Civic Participation

The People’s IEBC represents a fusion of technology and grassroots election monitoring. By leveraging artificial intelligence to process and verify electoral forms, the platform seeks to create a parallel counting mechanism entirely independent of official channels.

The system’s approach is straightforward: citizens act as data collectors by photographing and uploading Form 34As from their polling stations, while the AI handles verification, summation, and presentation of results. This distributed model aims to make electoral fraud more difficult by creating a transparent, publicly accessible record of votes cast.

Questions and Concerns

Despite the innovative approach, questions remain about the platform’s practical effectiveness. Kenyans on social media have raised concerns about Miringa’s safety, with some calling for protective measures for the young developer. The project’s potential to challenge official results has sparked discussions about both its promise and its limitations.

Critics have pointed out a fundamental challenge: if the IEBC chooses to announce a preferred candidate regardless of actual vote counts, a parallel verification system may document the discrepancy but lack the legal authority to change the outcome.

“How will the system help with that?” one observer asked, highlighting the gap between identifying electoral manipulation and having the power to prevent it.

The Road to 2027

With Kenya’s next presidential election approaching, the People’s IEBC joins a growing ecosystem of civic technology initiatives aimed at strengthening electoral integrity. Whether the platform will achieve its ambitious goals remains to be seen, but its development reflects a broader demand among Kenyan citizens for transparency and accountability in the electoral process.

As the system moves from trial to production phase, all eyes will be on whether this citizen-led initiative can deliver on its promise to make election rigging impossible—or at least impossible to hide.

The success of the People’s IEBC will ultimately depend not just on its technology, but on widespread citizen participation, legal protections for those involved, and the willingness of Kenyans to engage in the democratic process beyond simply casting their votes.

The People’s IEBC platform is still under development. Its effectiveness and impact on the 2027 elections remain to be determined.

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