The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has clarified who is required to register afresh as voters following the 2012 biometric voter registration rollout.
In a statement on Saturday, April 4, the commission addressed the confusion by explaining that not all voters who registered before 2012 are required to register again.
"Should those who registered before 2012 as voters need to register afresh? Not at all unless they did not register as voters from 2012 when the new Register of Voter (ROV) was established under the new Constitution of Kenya 2010 and boundaries delimitation of 2012," the statement read.
IEBC further explained the transition from the manual system to a biometric one and why fresh registration was necessary at the time.
"Because before 2012, the ROV was manual. In 2012, it went biometric and so all eligible Kenyans were required to enrol and their Biometrics captured. This is the ROV that has been in place since 2013," the statement added.
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IEBC also highlighted the current status of the voter register, noting its accuracy and the number of registered voters as of the last General Election.
"As of the 2022 General Election, the Commission maintained an accurate and audited register comprising 22,120,458 voters," the statement further read.
IEBC noted that only a small group of Kenyans are required to register afresh, specifically those who may have missed the 2012 biometric registration and have not enrolled since.
"So we have not asked all old voters pre-2012 to register a fresh. Just those few who might have missed to register in 2012 and who, subsequently, have never registered under the Biometric system to date," the statement concluded.
Elsewhere, IEBC revealed that over 340,000 Kenyans had registered as new voters as of Friday, April 3.
According to the commission, a total of 344,316 voters have been registered since the start of the exercise on March 30.
Within the period, 18,610 transfers were made, with 329 voters changing their voting particulars.
The numbers are an improvement compared to the first phase of the continuous voter registration last September.
In the last phase, which spanned months, the commission managed to enlist 273,498 voters only.
In the second phase, which runs through April 28, the IEBC targets at least 2.5 million voters.
"The commission’s target for this ECVR exercise is to enlist 2.5 million new voters into the Register of Voters (RoV). We thank all Kenyans who have turned up to register, transfer their registration, or update their particulars," IEBC chairman Erastus Ethekon said.
The counties of Nairobi and Kiambu lead thus far in the number of new voters enlisted.
According to the IEBC data, a total of 42,417 new voters have registered in Nairobi, distantly trailed by Kiambu's 18,252.
Other counties in the top ten include Nakuru (14,324), Machakos (12,369), Kakamega (11,952), Meru (11,106), Kisii (10,455), Bungoma (9,842), Kajiado (9,672), Turkana (9,472), and Murang'a (8,337).
