Duplication of voter IDs possible error – IEBC

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has admitted there could be data entry errors in the voter register saying that such errors occur at the point of registration or genuine sharing of national Identification Card numbers.

In a statement to newsrooms, the electoral body, however, assured Kenyans that since voters are identified using biometric features on voting day, no legitimately registered voters can be disenfranchised due to the data entry errors.

“Any person whose National ID details are inconsistent with the details captured in the biometric system such a person is never allowed to vote,” read the IEBC statement in part.

The commission further indicated that it has been in touch with the National Registration Bureau on potential National ID duplicates.

This comes after Wiper leader, Kalonzo Musyoka, discovered that he shares the same national Identification number with a 23-year-old Susan Wanjiru Njoroge when he went to verify his registration status during a voter registration mobilization tour in Wajir County on Wednesday.

While citing records found at Wagberi Primary School registration centre in Wajir East Constituency, Kalonzo claimed that the alleged error was an early scheme by the Jubilee Party to rig the August 8 General Election.

Kalonzo was accompanied by Ford Kenya Leader, Moses Wetangula, alongside a delegation of CORD leaders on a tour of Wajir County, following earlier complaints that the BVR kits in the county were not functioning properly.

The commission has since announced a voter verification exercise commencing in May for 30 days that will include biometric data verification after which the register will be subjected to public scrutiny.

Speaking to the media at the IEBC headquarters in Nairobi on Wednesday, January 18, IEBC Chief Executive Officer, Ezra Chiloba urged all Kenyans to be involved in the audit of the voter register further pledging that the commission will avail the biometric kits for verification.

“Preparing the register is a legal process, we need to gather data and after the exercise we will process it through matching and de-duplication to ensure people do not appear twice.” Said Chiloba

Meanwhile the IEBC has suspended the voter registration SMS query code 22464 due to a high number of voters attempting to confirm their records shortly after registering.