Indepenent Electoral and Boundaries Commission conducts voter education

Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission Chairman Wafula Chebukati as they announced number of registered voters being over 19 million for 2017 general election at their office. ON 27/06/2017 PHOTO:JENIPHER WACHIE

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has maintained that they will not accept voters cards during the August 8 General Election.

Only original national identification cards (IDs) and valid passports will be used to verify voters, the commission said on Thursday.

The Commission further clarified that those who registered as voters using their passports will not be allowed to vote using the national IDs and vice versa.

"Those who registered using waiting cards and did not later change their details to the identification card number will also be locked out of voting," said deputy Kisumu County Returning Officer, Edwin Ayieko Nyakoyo during IEBC stakeholders meeting at Tom Mboya Labor Collage.

Those in need of assistance during voting and had indicated so during the voter verification period will be allowed to carry someone along to assist them.

The assistant must be a Kenyan, above 18 years of age and must sign a secrecy oath in the presence of a presiding officer. They too are expected to have their national Identification Cards.

Ayieko urged voters to adhere to the set election guidelines for a peaceful process, adding that the staff overseeing the process have been competently trained.

"We are looking forward to a free and fair election and we therefore request the public to adhere to the set rules and regulations for the voting process to run smoothly. Any form of malpractice should be avoided. Our systems will instantly identify any voter who tries to vote twice and legal action will be taken," Ayieko warned.

Tom Onyango, a voter educator in Kisumu Central, said that for those whose fingerprints cannot be verified will have the poll clerks scan their identification cards or corroborate their names on the IDs with that in the voters register.

Onyango urged voters to ensure they place the ballot papers correctly to avoid having too many spoilt votes.

He said the agents should partake in guiding voters, not just wait for supervision of the tallying process.

He also urged stakeholders to drum up voter education ahead of the August 8 polls.