The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has registered more than 5,000 new voters in the ongoing continuous voter registration exercise in Nyando Constituency, Kisumu County.
Speaking to the Kenya News Agency on Monday, the Constituency Election Coordinator, Nicholas Mutai, said the Commission has also processed 300 cases of voter transfers.
The electoral official expressed concern over the low turnout of young people in the voter registration exercise, noting that youth participation has declined significantly despite voter registration kits being deployed to various registration centres across the constituency.
“Registration is going on well, but local residents are complaining of deep political disillusionment and the distance they must travel to get to the registration centers,” Mutai said.
The Constituency Assistant Election Coordinator, Irene Awuor, said voter registration patterns are highly skewed and polarized across different geographical areas within the constituency.
According to Awuor, Kobura Ward has recorded the highest number of voters registering as compared to the other four electoral wards such as Ahero, Awasi/Onjiko, Kabonyo/Kanyagwal, and East Kano/Wawidhi wards.
Of the newly registered voters, Awuor added, women account for the majority, highlighting a gender imbalance in the exercise, with a high female turnout across most registration centers.
The peak of the inflow of citizens always comes to the Awasi headquarters on Monday and Thursday because those are the main market days in the area.
Despite the steady numbers, the local residents on the ground pointed to systemic challenges to the exercise.
Dastan Omondi, a local resident, claimed he walked for about four kilometers to the DCC’s compound in Awasi to get registered, arguing that the center was too far for many.
Further, he added that the registration process at the center was smooth and swift, guided by the professional staff and clerks taking a shorter time to verify the voters’ documents.
Omondi gave some insights into the reason why many of his neighbors fail to show up at the centers, explaining that it is a situation of deep-rooted apathy. His statement resonated with the low youth turnout by the IEBC officials.
“Some say that they will not gain anything from it,” Omondi said, and added that members of the community feel they have been voting again and again but without getting anything tangible from the leaders that they elect.
The Constituency Assistant Election Coordinator, Awuor stressed the registration gap especially among the Gen Z, noting that hardly any young people turned up at the voting centres.
“This low youth turnout is not because of technical problems. The biometric registration machines across the constituency are working perfectly and efficiently,” she said, adding that the team has not encountered any logistical problems or system hitches at all during the exercise.
The IEBC officials proposed an instant and urgent grassroots mobilization in a bid to fill the void of the youth and get them engaged in the process before the exercise is over.
Mutai called on civic education to be undertaken by local community leaders, civil society organizations and political actors to give the younger generation the need to register as voters.
He said there is currently no official deadline for the voter registration exercise, adding that voter registration remains open indefinitely to all eligible citizens.
By Rainhard Ayub and Peterson Kombe
