Election offences: is buying votes a crime?
Election Offences Act 2016 · sources read 4 Oct 2026
Buying votes is a crime: offering a bribe to a voter, or accepting one, during an election period can mean a fine of up to KSh 2 million, up to 6 years in jail, or both. Voting more than once, using violence or threats, and campaigning with public resources are also offences, and anyone convicted cannot run for office for 5 years.
- Deadline
- The DPP must start a case for an election offence within 12 months of the election it relates to.
- Where
- Any police station or the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP); cases are heard in the magistrates' courts
Steps
- Election offences are prosecuted by the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), who can also order investigations.
- Like other crimes, they are investigated by the National Police Service. The DPP can direct the police to investigate any allegation of a crime, and the police must comply.
- Cases are heard in the magistrates' courts. The Chief Justice can appoint special magistrates for election offences through a Gazette notice.
Watch out
- Taking money or gifts for your vote is a crime too, not only offering them.
- A conviction bars you from running or being nominated for 5 years, and the Constitution also bars you from registering as a voter for 5 years.
- Penalties differ by offence. Where the Act sets no specific penalty, the maximum is a fine of KSh 1 million, 3 years in jail, or both.
- Voting in someone else's name (or a made-up name), or posing as an election official, is personation. The Act sets no separate penalty for it, so the general penalty applies: up to KSh 1 million, 3 years in jail, or both.
- Using or threatening force or violence to make someone vote a certain way (undue influence) also carries the general penalty of up to KSh 1 million, 3 years, or both.
Who this covers
- The law applies to everyone: voters, candidates, agents and supporters alike.
- Some offences target candidates and those around them, such as using public officers or the security organs to push people to vote a certain way.
Official sources (2)
- Election Offences Act, No. 37 of 2016 new.kenyalaw.org · read 4 Oct 2026
- Constitution of Kenya, 2010 new.kenyalaw.org · read 3 Oct 2026