The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) is targeting to enlist a total of 139,892 new voters in Nyeri during the ongoing Enhanced Continuous Voter Registration (ECVR) exercise.
Nyeri IEBC Manager Peter Mauta says since the exercise began on March 30, they have enlisted a total of 20,019 new voters in the six constituencies.
In Nyeri Town constituency alone, the electoral body hopes to enlist a total of 25,404 voters by the end of the ongoing registration exercise.
“We target to capture 139,892 new voters. Since we started the registration of voters in September last year, Nyeri county has registered 9,612 new voters. Nyeri Town Constituency has so far registered 3,519 for the last three days when we started this enhanced continuous voter registration,” he told KNA.
The month-long countrywide exercise which began on March 30 is expected to add at least 6.3 million new voters on the voters roll.
Since September last year, the IEBC has been able to register a total of 220,000 new voters in the 290 constituencies even as the county inches closer to the 2027 general election.
Mauta told KNA they are hoping to raise the number of registered voters from the current 481,631 voters to 621,524 voters in all the six constituencies.
He said they are employing the help of civil societies, local administrators and religious bodies to reach out to the unregistered persons and sensitise them on the need to take advantage of the enlisting exercise.
“In 2022 we had 481,631 registered voters but by the end of this exercise and the next phase, phase 2 of this mass voter registration exercise, we are targeting 139,892 and if we realise our dream, we will have 621,524 voters in Nyeri County,” he explained.
In terms of resources, the IEBC official stated that they had enough personnel in all strategic places, including government offices where persons can walk in and get registered.
He also disclosed that unlike in the past when the electoral body was employing the use of Biometric Voter Registration kits, this time clerks were using open kits which can capture details of an eligible voter from any location.
Mauta has also said young people under the age of 35 years form the largest percentage of those who are visiting registration desks, accounting for 80-90 per cent turnout.
“So far we do not have any challenge. Every ward has three Kenya Integrated Elections Management System kits that are being managed by three clerks. We have also put two clerks at the Huduma Centre who are doing registration. And unlike the previous registration exercise, we are using open kits. We can register any person from anywhere and he or she can vote anywhere in 2027,” he pointed out.
“We are also doing transfers and so far, we transferred 317 voters from Nyeri town constituency while in Nyeri county 5,612 transfers have been done. We cannot transfer a person from this constituency to another place but whoever comes here, we transfer that person from here,” he added.
According to official IEBC figures dating back to 2022, there were a total of 22,102,532 registered voters in all the 47 counties. However, during the 2022 general election, only 14,326,641 people turned out to cast their votes.
By Samuel Maina and Wangari Mwangi
