Any election dispute should be presented in court, election observers from the European Union have said.

The European Union Election Observation Mission (EUEOM) also said an initial analysis of result forms for the October 26 repeat presidential poll had shown improvement in transparency and accuracy compared to the annulled August 8 vote.

"Grievances over the electoral processes be addressed through judicial channels for legally-mandated remedy. The courts and the IEBC be given full opportunity to work independently and without undue pressure," said Chief Observer Marietje Schaake in a preliminary statement on the election.

"Political leaders urgently engage in dialogue to identify ways forward, including addressing longer-term electoral reform issues to prevent problems evident in this election occurring again to the detriment of the nation," she added.

The statement said a select review of election result forms indicated a significant improvement in mathematical accuracy and public availability of the forms compared to the August 8 presidential election that was nullified by the Supreme Court.

The mission reported that an initial examination of a random sample of 1,550 forms 34A found that only two per cent were not fully readable due to poor scan quality, a marked improvement from August.

A review of 300 polling stations found that 48 and 72 hours after the close of polling, forms 34A available on the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) portal were still identical to those uploaded on election night.

Results pages

Over the same period, several forms 34B with missing results pages were replaced with their full versions, with all available data matching.

Of the sampled forms 34A, only one form was not signed by a presiding officer, 2.6 per cent were not stamped, and 1.1 per cent had some data missing - usually concerning the number of registered voters and/or rejected or disputed ballots.

"This is an improvement from the August election," said the EU statement.

An initial analysis of the mathematical accuracy of results forms found that of the sampled forms 34A, only 0.9 per cent had arithmetical errors and 1.8 per cent showed some signs of altered figures.

Ms Schaake (left) termed the prevailing political environment dangerous and assaults on institutions a path to damaging the country’s democracy.

Uhuru Kenyatta was declared winner of the repeat vote, sparking protests by Opposition chief Raila Odinga, who boycotted the election.

The Standard Kenya