Kenya Supreme Court ordered the election commission on Monday to allow Raila Odinga’s National Super Alliance (NASA) and Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubilee Party limited access to its computer servers and electronic devices to assess the vote-count for themselves to verify the election’s integrity. According to the election commission, Kenyatta won a second five-year term, which was substantiated by independent monitors of a sampling of 2,000 polling stations. Odinga’s supporters allege that the results from more than one-third of the polling stations are “fatally flawed.” According to the opposition’s lawyer, some of the tally sheets were missing security features and an official stamp, which were designed to ensure the election process was conducted fairly, especially if the electronic systems were to fail. The court must provide a ruling by September 1 and if the opposition succeeds a new election must be held within 60 days.

The election has sparked violent protests, resulting [JURIST report] in at least 24 people dead, according to the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights [official website]. UN HIgh Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein has called on Kenyan leaders [JURIST report] to “take the responsible path and exercise their leadership to avoid violence” after these deadly protests. Protests the following Kenya’s 2007 election, which Odinga also lost, resulted in more than 1,200 deaths, triggering an International Criminal Court investigation and charges that were ultimately dropped [JURIST report] against Kenyatta.