Poll: Kenyans want December polls

Written By:KBC reporters,    Posted: Wed, Apr 04, 2012

Infotrack managing director Angela Ambitho said 16 percent of Kenyans want elections held in August as stipulated in the constitution (Photo/FILE) Majority of Kenyans want the general election held in December this year. This is according to two opinion polls released Wednesday by Infotrak-Harris and Ipsos Synovate. According to Infotrack Harris, 64 percent of Kenyans approve the December election while only 12 percent prefer elections in March next year. Ipsos-Synovate poll shows 72 percent of Kenyans would like the elections held in December whilst 12 percent cite March 2013. Speaking in Nairobi during the release of the study results , Infotrack managing director Angela Ambitho said 2,400 respondents were interviewed between March 11th and 13th. Ms. Ambitho said 16 percent of Kenyans want elections held in August as stipulated in the constitution. She further said that those who want elections in March say the independent electoral and boundaries commission is not ready to oversee the elections this year. The study also revealed that 83 percent of Kenyans have confidence in IEBC supervising free and fair election. She said of those who prefer a December poll, 51 percent of them said it was a long holiday and many Kenyans were therefore free to vote, 44 percent of them said Kenyans were used to voting in December while another two percent said there was need to give the IEBC time to adequately prepare for the elections. Ipsos Synovate's managing director Maggie Ireri said preference for a December 2012 poll is high in various parts of the country. Nyanza has the highest at 80 percent. It is closely followed by Western (74), Nairobi (73), Rift Valley (73), Coast (69), Central (64) as well as North Eastern (59). "The main reason given by those in favour of the December poll as the election date is that this is a less busy period of the year thus people are available to vote," said Mrs Ireri.