ELECTRONIC VOTING

NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 12 - The Interim Independent Electoral Commission (IIEC) is set to begin electronic voter registration on Monday morning.

The 10-day exercise will involve the capture of the facial features and fingerprints of a person using a camera and a thumbprint reader.

This system uniquely identifies an individual and eliminates cases of cheating and impersonation.

The Electronic Voter Registration will cover over 1,400 registration centres and will target an estimated 1.8 million people. The Commission has also unveiled 1,600 kits to be used in the pilot project which will be conducted in 18 constituencies.

Prime Minister Raila Odinga was set to launch the electronic voter registration at the Old Kibera Primary School in Langata constituency.

Meanwhile, Kenyans are hoping the electronic registration will ensure that polls are conducted in a transparent and efficient manner.

Those interviewed believe it will greatly reduce the registration time and be more accurate.

“It is a good idea because it will give us a clear picture when we are voting so that there will be no way that the vote will be stolen,” said Fatuma Hassan an M-Pesa agent.

Some are however skeptical of the process, saying no system was fool proof. Tom Juma, an accountant with a local accounting firm said; “We can never guess what idea this is, but from what we have seen in various countries, you can still rig through an electronic system.”

Countrywide manual voter registration kicked off last month with the IIEC targeting a total of 10 million voters.

Already some 3.5 million voters have been registered.

A new voter’s register is critical for Kenya, after the dissolution of the Electoral Commission of Kenya and obliteration of the existing voters’ roll.

The registration will go on for 45 days after which the IIEC will start preparations for the referendum on the new constitution expected in July.

Meanwhile, Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka said that all Kenyans over the age of 18 should ensure that they have valid ID cards to enable them participate in the upcoming referendum and the general elections.

He said that doing this will enable them to have a part in shaping the future of the country.

He further called on the Ministry of Immigration to put in place mechanism which will make the process smooth for everyone.

“In my on constituency, we have found out that 9,000 voters may not get registered because they were found to be in possession of the old ID cards (which were phased out in the late 1990s),” the VP stated.

“This mistake of the IDs used for registration should also be looked into properly.”

He was speaking in his Mwingi North constituency where he urged all Kenyans to support the draft constitution during the referendum.