IEBC opposes use of waiting cards for voter listing

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has opposed the use of waiting cards by Kenyans to register as voters.

The commission has written to the Attorney General Prof Githu Muigai expressing reservations over the use of the provisional ID cards, with only three days remaining to the conclusion of voter listing.

On Friday, IEBC vice chairperson Lillian Mahiri-Zaja said the waiting cards had no serial numbers or the bearer’s photo.

The Biometric Voter Registration kits, she said, could only accept ID card or passport numbers, meaning that in order to key in the waiting card numbers, their technicians will be required to reconfigure the machines, a process that takes time.

“We wrote to the AG last week about the issue. We are yet to get a response,” said Ms Zaja in Nairobi during a constitutional commission’s forum.

“We want to make sure that even as we create a new voters register in line with the requirements of the Kriegler Commission, we must ensure that it is credible,” she said.

“Therefore, we must not allow any window of opportunity for any fraudulent entries into the register as this will compromise the integrity of not only the voters roll but the General Election.”

Her sentiments comes just a day after Parliament passed amendments to the Election Act, which would allow Kenyans with provisional identity cards to use them to register as voters.

Should President Kibaki sign the amended Elections Act into law, only those who will have got their IDs by March 4, 2013 will be allowed to vote.

Fraud

Immigration minister Otieno Kajwang’ told Parliament on Thursday that the move by the government to allow Kenyans with waiting cards to register as voters was to give them sufficient time to get their IDs.

“We are hopeful that anybody who will register using the provisional ID will have a national ID by March 4,’’ he said minutes before the House passed amendments proposed by Gem MP Jakoyo Midiwo.

However, Ms Zaja said the country has been in problems before as a result of an election which had been riddled with fraud, a route the country is not prepared to take currently.

She was referring to the 2007/08 post-election violence, which was sparked by among others, a poorly managed election. Some 1,133 people were killed and 650,000 others rendered homeless in the violence.

“If the waiting slip is to be allowed in the voter registration process, then the individual having it must ensure that he or she produces an actual ID during the actual voting. Otherwise, we shall not allow them to vote,” she said.