Students urge IEBC to extend voter listing deadline

PHOTO | SALATON NJAU An IEBC clerk keys in a voter’s ID details during the Biometric Voter Registration exercise at St. Teresa's Girls Secondary School in Nairobi on November 20, 2012.

What you need to know:

  • The students expressed fear that they might be locked out if the electoral commission sticks to the December 18 deadline because they were currently doing exams
  • However, IEBC official Thomas Letangule said the commission would not extend the registration, noting that there was little time left to prepare for the March 4 election

NAKURU

University students have called for an extension of voter registration period to allow them to participate in the exercise.

The students expressed fear that they might be locked out if the electoral commission sticks to the December 18 deadline because they were currently doing exams.

Also Read

Students Union of Egerton University Nakuru Town Campus chairman Evans Ikomol said most students wanted to vote in their constituencies but this might not be possible because of the ongoing exams.

“It is of great concern to us because we feel that IEBC is locking out us,” said Mr Ikomol.

Mr Ikomol, who was accompanied by student representatives from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology and Kenya Methodist University at a press conference in Nakuru, asked the IEBC to extend the registration by one week.

NATIONAL AGENDA
  • ISSUE 1 - Job Creation
  • ISSUE 2 -Food Security
  • ISSUE 3 - Healthcare
  • ISSUE 4 - Education
  • ISSUE 5 - Energy
  • ISSUE 6 - Water & Environment
  • ISSUE 7 - Social Protection
  • ISSUE 8 - Public Infrastructure
  • ISSUE 9 - National Security & Foreign Policy
  • ISSUE 10 - Boosting Exports
  • ISSUE 11 - Devolution
  • ISSUE 12 - Ethnicity

However, IEBC official Thomas Letangule said the commission would not extend the registration, noting that there was little time left to prepare for the March 4 election.

Find time

Mr Letangule urged the students to find time during the weekends to register as voters.

At the same time, some residents in Homa Bay County have accused IEBC clerks in the area of engaging in voter registration fraud.

They accused the clerks of entering conflicting information on the ID cards and IEBC identification slips.

Area IEBC coordinator Doreen Wawire, however, said these were cases of human error.

“This might just be a matter of error and omission which should not be viewed as an attempt to rig the elections,” she said.

She said only ID cards, and not IEBC slips, would be important during voting.

In the headlines