The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) will roll out the second phase of Enhanced Continuous Voter Registration (ECVR) from January 17th to February 6, 2022 in preparation for the August 9th General Elections.
IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati said the commission received additional funding from the Treasury to facilitate the second and final phase of the continuous voter registration which he said targets to register 4.5 million new voters who were left out in the first phase.
The Commission rolled out Phase I of Enhanced Continuous Voter Registration (ECVR) exercise from October 4th to November 5, 2021, where a total of 1,519,294 eligible Kenyans were registered as new voters out of the targeted 6 million.
Briefing the press on the commission’s preparedness in Naivasha, Chebukati assured that the Commission was on course in planning and was putting in place measures and mechanisms to ensure free, fair, credible, verifiable, accountable and transparent General Elections.
The Chairman said that the second phase of ECVR would offer another opportunity to eligible Kenyans, who missed the first phase in terms of registering as voters, transferring polling station or changing their particulars.
“It is your constitutional right to register and vote in your preferred leaders come 9th August 2022,” Chebukati told eligible youths who missed out in the first phase.
On diaspora Voter Registration, Chebukati said the registration for citizens residing outside Kenya would start on 21st January 2022 and end on 6th February 2022 with the exercise being conducted during the official working hours at the Kenyan Embassies, High Commissions and Consulates in respective countries.
He added that the Commission would use Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) kits to capture biometric and biographic details of the voters.
At the same time, the chairman said ECVR II captured eligible Kenyan voters living in Burundi, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda and South Africa, who participated in 2017 General Election, adding that the Commission would extend diaspora voter registration exercise to seven more countries namely, the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, South Sudan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Germany.
Chebukati however clarified that a registered voter in diaspora would only be voting for the Presidential elective position.
On audit of register of voters, the chairman said Section 8A of the Elections Act 2011, required the Commission to, at least six (6) months before the date of a General Election, engage a professional reputable firm to conduct an audit of the Register of Voters for the purpose of verifying the accuracy of the register, recommending mechanisms of enhancing the accuracy of the register and updating the register, an exercise he said would be conducted after closure of the ECVR Phase Il.
He added that the Commission was in the process of procuring a firm to undertake the audit exercise with the firm expected to give a report within a period of thirty (30) days where the commission would implement the audit report recommendations within thirty (30) days.
By Esther Mwangi and Calvin Osiemo
