Kenyans could find mistakes in voter records on election day next week, many biometrics not well-captured
90 percent of eligible voters in Kenya have not confirmed their details with the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), and many may find mistakes in their records as they cast their ballots next week.
Reported in Sabahi Online, last year, 14.3 million Kenyans registered to vote, and this year, up to 12.9 million people may find mistakes in the voter records on election day.
The elections in the country, set to take place on Monday, March 4, 2013, have been called one of the “most important elections since independence.”
“We are going to have the principal register and an exceptional register listing voters who, for one reason or the other, registered but their biometrics were not well-captured,” IEBC CEO James Oswego said. “Those whose names are in the exceptional register would be allowed to vote. If you are not appearing in the register for one reason or another but you registered, we cannot stop you because the mistake may have been ours.”
The IEBC has also said that though it has sent lists of registered voters to registration and immigration departments to verify detected errors, the IEBC has yet to hear back from those tests.
Reported previously in BiometricUpdate.com, in December of last year, the IEBC reported that it had only registered 11 million voters and fell short of the targeted figure of 18 million voters in the country.
Following news that biometric voter registration data will not be shared with law enforcement and will instead be kept private, thousands of Kenyans lined up to secure their right to vote just days before the national deadline.
Article Topics
biometrics | elections | identity verification | verification
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