Verbatim text
(2) If two or more candidates for President are nominated, an
election shall be held in each constituency.
(3) In a presidential election—
(a) all persons registered as voters for the purposes of
parliamentary elections are entitled to vote;
(b) the poll shall be taken by secret ballot on the day specified in
Article 101 (1) at the time, in the places and in the manner
prescribed under an Act of Parliament; and
(c) after counting the votes in the polling stations, the
Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission shall tally
and verify the count and declare the result.
(4) A candidate shall be declared elected as President if the
candidate receives—
(a) more than half of all the votes cast in the election; and
(b) at least twenty-five per cent of the votes cast in each of more
than half of the counties.
(5) If no candidate is elected, a fresh election shall be held within
thirty days after the previous election and in that fresh election the only
candidates shall be—
(a) the candidate, or the candidates, who received the greatest
number of votes; and
(b) the candidate, or the candidates, who received the second
greatest number of votes.79
(6) If more than one candidate receives the greatest number of
votes, clause (5) (b) shall not apply and the only candidates in the
fresh election shall be those contemplated in clause (5) ( a).
(7) The candidate who receives the most votes in the fresh
election shall be declared elected as President.
(8) A presidential election shall be cancelled and a new election
held if—
(a) no person has been nominated as a candidate before the
expiry of the period set for the delivery of nominations;
(b) a candidate for election as President or Deputy President dies
on or before the scheduled election date; or
(c) a candidate who would have been entitled to be declared
elected as President, dies before being declared elected as
President.
(9) A new presidential election under clause (8) shall be held
within sixty days after the date set for the previous presidential
election.
(10) Within seven days after the presidential election, the
chairperson of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission
shall—
(a) declare the result of the election; and
(b) deliver a written notification of the result to the Chief Justice
and the incumbent President.
Death before assuming office.
What this means
- The index files this text under article 138 of the Constitution of Kenya.
- The passage runs to about 396 words.
The row’s stored title is a body fragment, not a heading (“(1) If only one candidate for President is nominated, that candidate shall be declared elected.”), so it is not used as the provision’s title here.
The index gives this passage an article number but stores a body fragment where a heading would be, so the number could not be cross-checked against the text. Check it against the official Constitution before relying on it in a citation.
No rights vocabulary from our fixed word list appears in this passage, so no plain-language reading is offered for it.
This is a mechanical reading aid generated from the text above by matching words in it. It is not legal advice, not a lawyer’s interpretation, and not a substitute for the provision itself.
How to cite this
Constitution of Kenya, article 138, Portable Lawyer, https://www.portablelawyer.app/provision/54ea020e-6afa-42f2-b0c2-3dba698b30bd (accessed 25 October 2026).
Canonical URL: https://www.portablelawyer.app/provision/54ea020e-6afa-42f2-b0c2-3dba698b30bd
Accessed 25 October 2026.
Link to the canonical URL above, not to a #section-… fragment on the jurisdiction page — the fragment is a scroll position, this URL is the provision.
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