Cord leader Raila calls for more voter listing devices

Cord leader Raila Odinga has called for more electronic voter registration kits for use during the listing that starts on Monday.

The opposition leader said the electoral commission has 15,000 Biometric Voter Registration kits procured in 2012 and another 1,600 from the August 2010 referendum.

He said the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission should release the kits.

“It has been revealed that the commission plans to recruit only two clerks per ward, assigning each a BVR kit. Given that there are 1,450 wards countrywide, this translates to 2,900 BVR kits in the 47 counties,” he said Wednesday.  “This is significantly lower than the kits at its disposal,” he said.

The IEBC said on Tuesday it would make available 5,756 kits for the listing, which starts on Monday and ends on March 15.

“This is a 100 per cent increase following support from development partners. Surface area played a critical role in the allocation of the kits. The larger the ward, the more the kits to ensure potential voters are not discouraged from registering by long distances,” said commission chairman Issack Hassan.

He said that besides hiring 5,756 clerks, the commission would deploy 290 ICT support assistants to both the head office and field operations.

“The BVR kits will be locked to register only voters at polling stations that fall within the particular ward. They must be physically present to register with a valid national ID or a passport,” Mr Hassan said.

But Mr Odinga, speaking during a meeting with a European Union delegation, said there was “innate danger” in having such a large number of kits in storage during the exercise.

“Mischievous quarters may seek to clandestinely use them to register voters to favour certain areas,” he claimed.