Raila Odinga contests the outcome of the Kenyan election

• Raila Odinga received 48.8% of the vote, falling short of William Ruto’s 50.5%.
• The Supreme Court will have 14 days to reach a decision.
• The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission posted the polling station tallies on Thursday.

According to his attorneys, Raila Odinga, who ranks second in Kenya’s presidential election, has filed a lawsuit contesting the results.

The electoral commission reports that Mr. Odinga received 48.8% of the vote, falling short of William Ruto’s 50.5%.

Four of the seven electoral commissioners, however, declined to support the verdict, claiming that the final results’ tally was “opaque” and hence they should not be accepted.

The Supreme Court’s seven judges will have 14 days to reach a decision.

According to an excerpt from the legal filings obtained by the BBC, one of the reasons Mr. Odinga’s Azimio coalition is making is that little more than 140,000 votes were cast but were not counted in the outcome.

This amount might be sufficient to keep Mr. Ruto from meeting the 50%-plus-one-vote requirement necessary to avoid a run-off election in the second round.

On Monday morning, Mr. Odinga’s supporters gathered outside the court in a Nairobi neighborhood as they awaited the attorneys to deliver the actual papers. “Protect our Vote” and “Electoral Justice Now” were written on their signs.

As the presidential candidate and his running mate, Martha Karua, arrived at the court to formally present the case, the crowd shouted and yelled.

In a statement made last week, Mr. Odinga called the outcome a “travesty” and said the election should be deemed “null and void.”

He has gone to court to get a decision reversed three times in a row.

The Supreme Court ordered a rerun after the seasoned politician in 2017 successfully disputed the outcome of the presidential election, which he lost to Uhuru Kenyatta. The case brought to light practical problems with how the results were compiled.

By posting the polling station tallies as soon as they were available, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) this time attempted to make the results process as transparent as possible.

The final outcome of the IEBC, according to an impartial Kenyan monitoring organisation, matched its own prediction.

A week ago, the national tallying centre experienced hectic scenes just before the results of the election on August 9 were ready to be announced.

Scuffles started when some of Mr. Odinga’s political allies seized the platform. While four others exited the compound to conduct a press conference to protest the results, two election commissioners were hurt.

IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati nevertheless went ahead with the announcement and gave Mr. Ruto the certificate certifying that he had won.

Mr. Ruto declared last week that he would adhere to the country’s electoral legislation, which includes respecting the court process.

“I’m a democrat. I believe in the rule of law. I respect our institutions,” He told reporters.

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