Governor of the County

The New Constitution has devolved two out of the three arms of government - namely, executive and legislative authority. This devolution will be exercised at the County level. The obvious implication of this is that the citizens of every County get to elect local representatives to their county executive and legislative authorities to be known as the County Executive and County Assembly respectively. Chapter 11 - Devolved Government, Part 1 - Objects and Principals of Devolved Government, excerpts:

176. (1) There shall be a county government for each county, consisting of a county assembly and a county executive.

The County Executive is headed by an elected Governor (and a running-mate as Deputy), while the County Assembly is composed of elected Ward Representatives.

180. (1) The county governor shall be directly elected by the voters registered in the county .......

Member of the County Assembly

177. (1) A county assembly consists of— (a) members elected by the registered voters of the wards ........

President of the Republic of Kenya

Similarly, the citizens of the various Counties get to elect the President (and Deputy President as running-mate) to the National Executive, and their representatives to the national legislative authority known as Parliament. Chapter 9 - The Executive, Part 1 - Principals and Structures of the National Executive, excerpts:

130. (1) The national executive of the Republic comprises the President, the Deputy President and .......

136. (1) The President shall be elected by registered voters in a national election ........

The race for the (ultimate) seat of President is covered in its own link under the Presidential Electoral System Under the New Constitution

Member for the Constituency

And from Chapter 8 - The Legislature, Part 1 - Establishment and Role of Parliament, excerpts:

94. (1) The legislative authority of the Republic is ....... vested in and exercised by
Parliament.

93. (1) There is established a Parliament of Kenya, which shall consist of the National Assembly and the Senate.

Representation at the National Assembly is on two levels. The first level is the unit traditionally known as a Constituency and which will elect one Member to the Assembly. Excerpts from Part 2 - Composition and Membership of Parliament:

97. (1) The National Assembly consists of— (a) two hundred and ninety members, each elected by the registered voters of single member constituencies; (b) forty-seven women, each elected by the registered voters of the counties, each county constituting a single member constituency;

Women Representative (Member) for the County

The second level of representation is the County. It elects a Women Representative to the Assembly, as part of positive affirmative action. Excerpts from Part 2 - Composition and Membership of Parliament:

97. (1) The National Assembly consists of— (a) two hundred and ninety members, each elected by the registered voters of single member constituencies; (b) forty-seven women, each elected by the registered voters of the counties, each county constituting a single member constituency;

Senator for the County

Elected representation at the Senate is on only one level. Every County will elect one Member to the Senate who will be known as a Senator. 

98. (1) The Senate consists of— (a) forty-seven members each elected by the registered voters of the counties, each county constituting a single member constituency;

From the foregoing, electoral seats in Kenya were filled in two sequential steps in the general elections of 2013 as discussed hereafter. In the first step of Kenya's electoral system, 6 types of electoral seats were filled through direct election by voters on the polling day as shown:

Table 1. Direct Election on Polling Day

In the second step, political parties will nominate members on a formula that reflects their strengths in the various legislative assemblies as shown in the next sub-section.

For a detailed look at the 2013 election outcomes by area, candidates and the votes garnered by each, the reader is invited to visit the IEBC Elections Portal.