IEBC seeks changes to voter listing rules

What you need to know:

  • The proposal is meant to address issues concerning the register that marred the last election, where some voters found their names missing from electronic voter identification devices.
  • IEBC also wants to bring back the issuing of voters’ cards, which was done away with in the last General Election.
  • Currently, one can only vote at the centre where they registered. This forces people to travel upcountry for listing and when the election day approaches.

The polls agency is set to ask Parliament to amend five parts of the Elections Act to change the way voters are registered.

A report on an internal audit of the last General Election by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) suggests the need for the changes.

One of the recommendations is to allow voters in the next General Election to register at one centre and vote at another.
This would enable people to choose where they want to vote at the time of registration.

Currently, one can only vote at the centre where they registered. This forces people to travel upcountry for listing and when the election day approaches.

IEBC also wants to bring back the issuing of voters’ cards, which was done away with in the last General Election.

MISSING NAMES

The proposal is meant to address issues concerning the register that marred the last election, where some voters found their names missing from electronic voter identification devices.

IEBC wants the cards to act as evidence of their registration.

The commission also proposes to have a biometric voter registration kit at every polling station.

The National Assembly should delete an amendment to the Act that allowed voters to be listed if they have a certificate of registration, popularly known as a waiting card, it recommends.

MPs inserted the provision to make it possible for youths who had attained the age of 18 to get registered as voters ahead of the election last year.

To prevent fraud, they included a rider that those registered in this way would be required to have their identity cards at the time of voting.

Although the amendment was made after the registration for the last election had ended, IEBC argues that it is a contradicting provision.