100 4.1.1.8 Rule 8 of the Elections (Parliamentary and County Elections) Petitions Rules, 2017 provides that every election petition must state: • the name and address of the petitioner; • the date when the election in dispute was conducted; • the results of the election, if any, and however declared; • the date of the declaration of the results of the election; • the grounds on which the petition is presented; and • the name and address of the advocate, if any, for the petitioner which shall be the address for service. 4.1.1.9 Further, every election petition must: • be signed by the petitioner or by a person duly authorised by the petitioner; • be supported by an affidavit by the petitioner containing the grounds on which relief is sought and setting out the facts relied on by the petitioner; and • be in such number of copies as would be sufficient for the court. 4.1.2 Import of Rule 8 on Form and Content of the Petition 4.1.2.1 There are two conflicting schools of thought on the failure to comply with Rule 8 of the Elections (Parliamentary and County Elections) Petitions Rules, 2017 on the form and content of a petition. The first school of thought holds that the requirements set out in Rule 8 are not mere technical requirements, limited to procedural form and content of election petitions, but that the requirements are substantive to the extent that they go to the root of the issues before an election court (M’Nkiria Petkay Shen Miriti v Ragwa Samuel Mbae & 2 Others, Meru Election Petition No. 4 of 2013; Jimmy Mkala Kazungu v IEBC & 2 Others, Mombasa Election Petition 9 of 2017; Mbaraka Issa Kombe v IEBC & 3 Others, Malindi High Court Election Petition No. 10 of 2017; Amina Hassan Ahmed v Returning Officer Mandera County & 2 Others, Nairobi Election Petition No. 4 of 2013; and Mwamlole Tchappu Mbwana v IEBC & 4 Others Mombasa Election Petition Number 5 of 2017). 4.1.2.2 Furthermore, each Rule should be read individually and collectively. In Mbayi Sayeed Omsiritsa v Nancy Iyadi & 2 Others, Kakamega Election Petition Appeal No 2 of 2017, the Court held that declaration of results and the date of declaration of results are required in both the petition (Rule 8(1)(c) and (d)) and the supporting affidavit (Rule 12(2)(c) and (d)).The Court held that Rule 8(1) (c) and (d) of the Rules are distinct but related to Rule 12(2) (c) and (d). 4.1.2.3 Courts may, therefore, properly dismiss or strike out, and often dismiss or strike out, election petitions which do not comply with prescribed mandatory requirements (Ismail Suleman & 9 Others v Returning Officer Isiolo County & 2 Others, Meru Election Petition No. 2 of 2013; Amina Hassan Ahmed v Returning Officer Mandera County & 2 Others, Nairobi Election Petition No. 4 of 2013). 4.1.2.4 Courts that subscribe to this school of thought strike out or dismiss election petitions that do not conform to the rules relating to: BENCH BOOK ON ELECTORAL DISPUTE RESOLUTION