The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) failed to hit the 6 million target of new voters in the mass voter registration exercise.
The exercise began on October 4 and was concluded on Tuesday November 5 after the court ruled that the electoral commission should extend the exercise for another week pending hearing and determination of a petition that had been filed by a voter.
Through a statement, IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati announced that the commission only registered 1,519,294 new voters.
Chebukati said that the new voters account for 25.3% of their 6 million voters target.
“During the ECVR exercise, the Commission enrolled a total of 1,519,294 new voters out of the projected target of approximately 6,000,000 eligible voters, being 25.3% of the target,” Chebukati said.
He added that 421,057 other registered voters applied to transfer from their previous voting centers to new voting centers
Counties that recorded the highest numbers of new voters include; Nairobi, Nakuru, Kiambu, Kakamega and Kisii.
Isiolo, Samburu, Laikipia and Tana River registered the least numbers of new voters.
IEBC will now move to the next level of deduplicating which entails removal of multiple voter records.
The commission further said that registration of voters in the diaspora will begin in December 2021.
“The Commission plans to conduct voter registration for citizens residing outside the country for a period of fifteen (15) days from 6th to 20th December 2021,” Chebukati said.
“Prior to the commencement of the exercise, the Commission will publish in the Kenya Gazette the names of registration centres and countries in which registration and voting are scheduled to take place and the period of registration,” he added.
Chebukati also said that the continuous voter registration at the constituency level has been resumed until when a gazette notice will be issued to allow for biometric verification of the voter register.
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