IEBC fails to meet first phase of voter registration target

The first phase of the mass voter registration exercise came to a close Tuesday with the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) failing to meet its target of listing four million new voters.

IEBC also ruled out any extension of the registration drive even as Kenyans thronged various registration centres in a bid to beat the deadline.

Some of those seeking to be registered as voters complained of difficulties they continue experiencing in acquiring identification cards.

The campaign to register at least four million new voters in 30 days was launched on February 15th in Nairobi’s Kamukunji area.

IEBC, led by its chair Ahmed Issack Hassan, rallied Kenyans countrywide to register as voters.

“Those registered in 2013 do not need to register again, unless if you want to change your polling station,” said Hassan when launching the exercise.

The exercise has been conducted in all the 1,450 county assembly wards by a total of 5,576 registration clerks.

The number of the registration clerks was doubled after the European Union through UNDP granted the electoral body an additional 560 million shillings.

IEBC said that the BVR machines being used in the registration exercise were enough but the number of individuals seeking to be listed was minimal.

Fears that some potential voters in some regions will be disenfranchised by the movement of the BVR kits across the wards were allayed through the provision of a comprehensive timetable of when and where the kits would be stationed.

IEBC urged Kenyans to go against their peculiar habits of rushing to the registration centres in the last minute.