Presidential elections in Kenya wrapped up yesterday, with former vice president William Kuto announced as the winner and president-elect. But in a troubling sign of things to come, his opponent Raila Odinga, rejected the results before the votes were even finished being counted. The candidates had been in a tight race for weeks, with unofficial vote tallies separating them by just a few thousand votes. But the announced result remains in question as four of the seven electoral commissioners refused to verify the vote (sound familiar?). The reported final vote tally was close, as Ruto received 50.49 percent of votes, against 48.85 percent for Odinga, a difference of only 233,211 votes, but enough to avoid a runoff.
The refusal of commissioners to verify results sent thousands of people into the streets and set off demonstrations calling the election rigged. This trend of election opacity and voter distrust is nothing new, but it seems to be getting worse with each passing election. This article points to some of the dangers of popular social mediums like TikTok in spreading election misinformation and the difficulty in separating truth from fiction in the short videos. Obviously social media has been around for a few election cycles now, but TikTok in particular wasn’t as widely used in the 2018 or even 2020 elections. Only time will tell what kind of viral dance challenge Joe Biden’s skeleton will have to perform if he wants to compete in 2024.
Side Items
Netflix recently released a god-awful excuse for entertainment called “Purple Hearts”, and I did my duty and watched it so you won’t have to. The premise of the film is a love story between a diabetic woman desperate for affordable access to insulin and a third-generation Marine trying to make his dad proud by killing Arabs. I give it a 1/10 for the plot development, the original music choices, and the absurd narrative that love conquers all political divides
Primary elections take place today in Wyoming and Alaska, and they feature a few familiar faces. In Alaska, the memorable trashcan named Sarah Palin is fighting to stay relevant, as is Liz Cheney, the representative from Wyoming and daughter of famed war criminal Dick. Two of the most rotten pieces of American politics up for election at once
Nearly two years after their Parliament approved a landmark piece of legislation, Scotland became the first country to make all menstrual products free. Emphasizing a renewed focus to combat ‘medical misogyny’, Scottish lawmakers are hopeful that although they’re the first to pass this sort of legislation, they won’t be the last