138(4) of the Constitution. In addition, the election which gives rise to this result must be held in accordance with the principles of a free and fair elections, which are by secret ballot; free from intimidation; improper influence, or corruption; and administered by an independent body in an impartial, neutral, efficient, accurate and accountable manner as stipulated in Article 81. Besides the principles in the Constitution which we have enumerated that govern elections, Section 83 of the Elections Act requires that elections be “conducted in accordance with the principles laid down in that written law.”  The most important written law on elections is of course the Elections Act itself. That is not all. Under Article 86 of the Constitution, IEBC is obliged to ensure, inter alia, that: “Whatever voting method is used, the system is simple, accurate, verifiable, secure, accountable and transparent; the votes cast are counted, tabulated and the results announced promptly by the presiding officer at each polling station; the results from the polling stations are openly and accurately collated and promptly announced by the returning officer; and appropriate structures and mechanisms to eliminate electoral malpractice are put in place, including the safekeeping of election materials.” I. ANALYSIS OF ISSUES FOR DETERMINATION [213] With the above imperative constitutional and legal principles in mind, we would now like to turn to the facts of this case, starting with the first limb of Section 83 and in this we shall be analyzing the violations of the principles in the Constitution and the electoral law that the petitioners are complaining of. Presidential  Petition  No.  1  of  2017                                                                                                                                                                                                            88  |  P a g e