Electronic Voter Registration to increase public participation in the election

With the appointment of the new electoral commission, there are several big tasks ahead – for those charged with running the next election, and for journalists covering the process. President Kibaki has signed the gazette notice giving the nine-member Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) the mandate to succeed the Interim Independent Electoral Commission (IIEC). Among the commission’s most immediate priorities are the delimitation of new constituency boundaries and conducting a fresh voters registration.
Speaking at a roundtable organized by Internews in Eldoret in October, IIEC Regional Coordinator, North Rift Bilhah Kiptugen confirmed that the commission would like to conduct Electronic Voter Registration (EVR) to mitigate fraud risks and increase public participation in the election. “The Commission is contemplating going EVR only for registration, and not for polling, so that we will be able to capture all the voters. This electronic voters’ registration has already been piloted in 18 constituencies in the country, including where we have had by elections – 11 as at now, all of them were successful”.