352 days to the ballot, Kenya's full road to the 2027 election

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission has now made it official.

Kenyans will vote on Tuesday, 10th August 2027, and last week's Kenya Gazette notice lays out, almost to the day, everything that must happen between now and then.

It is a dense, technical document, but stripped down it tells a simple story: the 2027 race effectively begins this October, nearly a year before anyone casts a ballot. Here is what the road actually looks like.

The earliest deadlines belong to political parties, not candidates. By 15th October 2026, parties must submit the names and signatures of their authorised officials to IEBC.

Nomination rules must be certified by the Registrar of Political Parties by 30th October, then filed with the Commission by 6th November.

Membership lists follow a similar path, certified by 23rd March 2027 and submitted to IEBC by 12th April.

Sitting quietly inside this window is one of the most consequential dates on the calendar: 9th December 2026, the last day anyone intending to contest can participate in a public fundraising or harambee without risking disqualification.

Public officers eyeing a run must resign by 10th February 2027, six months ahead of the poll as the Constitution requires.

Parties then submit their primary candidates, dates and venues by 8th April, and IEBC gazettes those names by 16th April.

All party primaries and internal disputes must be wrapped up by 8th May, the same day independent candidates must have cut ties with any party and submitted their name and symbol.

Presidential nominees go to IEBC that day too, while presidential aspirants separately have until 24th May to prove nationwide support with at least 2,000 verified voter signatures across a majority of counties.

IEBC publishes the final list of independent candidates by 14th May.

Formal candidate registration runs from 29th May through 11th June, staggered by seat, with presidential nominations closing earliest and county assembly nominations running latest.

Any nomination dispute must be lodged within 24 hours of the incident and no later than 12th June, with the Commission required to resolve it by 23rd June.

Campaigning opens on 29th May and runs daily from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Chief election agents, both national and constituency level, must be named by 27th July.

Campaigning closes on 7th August, 48 hours before polling, giving the country a brief cooling-off period before Kenyans vote on 10th August 2027.

Laid end to end, the timeline shows an election that is decided less on polling day than in the months before it, in party primary halls, harambee tents and IEBC registration offices most voters will never see.

For candidates, the real deadline pressure starts now, not next August.