Editor's Review

"A manual register is a must in each and every polling station, it's not negotiable," Odinga. 

Azimio presidential candidate Raila Odinga has insisted that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) should have a manual register at the August 9 polls.

Speaking in Kiambu County on Wednesday, July 6, Odinga said that the electoral body should use both the manual register and the electronic identification of voters in the general election. 

The former prime minister said that the matter was not negotiable for the Azimio coalition party. 

"A manual register is a must in each and every polling station, it's not negotiable. We’re telling the IEBC they must have a manual register along with biometric identification of voters on that day; failure to which, there will be no election," he affirmed. 

{Raila Odinga campaigns in kiambu}

On the other hand, IEBC has insisted that they will solely identify voters electronically. 

IEBC chairperson Wafula Chebukati mentioned that the move to ditch the physical register for a digital one was geared to guard against malpractices witnessed in the 2017 polls. 

IEBC chief executive Marjan Hussein Marjan maintained that the digital register will only allow legitimate voting while easily identifying any illegitimate voting.

Among the concerns raised by Odinga include the collapse of the electronic voter identification system by default or design, thereby denying the electorate an opportunity to vote at the ballot.