IEBC misses voter registration target

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has registered 1,428,056 voters in the just concluded Phase I of mass listing exercise, falling short of the four million voters target by 2,571,944 voters, representing 66%.

The exercise that run from February 15th to March 15th saw the IEBC receive 493,169 voter transfer requests.

The exercise was conducted at County Assembly Ward level using 5,776 Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) kits, operated by an equal number of Voter Registration Assistants.

Nairobi County had the highest number of applications for registration of eligible voters followed by Kiambu, Kisumu and Kakamega as per returns from each county despite the fact that they did not meet their targets.

IEBC had set out to register four million voters in the 30-day drive but managed 34% of its target.

Only seven counties managed to get 50% and above of their set targets. These are: Kajiado, Marsabit, Tana-River, Narok, Migori, Kiambu and Siaya.

Five other counties including Elegeyo-Marakwet, Taita Taveta, Embu, Kilifi, and Vihiga obtained less than 25% of the set targets.

IEBC plans to commence the voter registration in Kericho County and Malindi Constituency after the conclusion of the Senate and Parliamentary by-elections respectively.

Counties neighbouring Nairobi seem to register higher than their targets. Kajiado County, for example, had a target of 18,092 but ended up registering 27,884 (154%).