Results trickle in after record voter turnout
Daily Nation, Kenya - December 28, 2007

ODM presidential candidate Raila Odinga votes at a polling station in Kibera, Lang’ata constituency.

Counting of votes began in earnest last evening with early results showing a close battle between President Kibaki and his main challenger, ODM’s Raila Odinga.

Earlier in the day, millions of Kenyans cast their ballots in Thursday's General Election, which is expected to record the highest voter turnout in Kenya’s history.

Some voters queued from as early as 4 am and waited patiently until the official opening of polling centres. Electoral Commission vice-chairman Kihara Muttu said the voter turnout “will be higher than ever before”.

Vote counting had began by 6pm at stations where polling started on time and closed at 5pm. Some polling stations had opened shortly after 6am, while others delayed after ECK officials in some constituencies detected mix-ups in voter registers and other election materials, including ballot boxes.

The ECK ordered the extension of voting hours in the polling stations which opened late to make up for lost time.

However, the commission put off elections in 15 civic wards across the country due to missing names of some candidates on the ballot papers or due to a mix-up of party symbols.

Though voting went on peacefully, three people died in separate incidents, while a riot broke out in Mumias Town, with an attack on a building following rumours that ballot papers had been hidden there. And in Rongo, a man was stoned to death in what was believed to be a revenge attack over the killing of a campaign agent a week ago.

In Nairobi, an ODM agent was shot dead in Lang’ata constituency in a suspected carjacking attempt ...