Eligible voters for August polls are over 22M – IEBC announces
Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has unveiled the total number of voters eligible to vote in the August 9 general election.
In a press conference at Bomas of Kenya, IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati said the commission has received 22,120,458 registered voters from KPMG, the audit firm the electoral body contracted to verify all registered voters.
The voters are distributed in 46,232 polling stations across Kenya.
Of the total voters, 50.88 per cent are males while 49.12 per cent are females.
The numbers represent a 13.08 per cent growth rate as compared to the 2017 general election.
The commission further announced that 246,265 dead voters were removed from the register during the audit period.
IEBC to use only digital register on voting day
Notably, the commission said it will use a digital voter system in the upcoming polls.
While responding to a question by Raila Odinga Presidential Campaign Board member Paul Mwangi, IEBC CEO Marjan Hussein said the digital register is just a replica of the hardcopy register.
"Based on our 2017 general election experience, using the digital register will reduce malpractices. The presiding officer will not be able to see who has not voted.
"This will reduce cases of people voting for people who did not appear to vote," Marjan said.
The CEO said the commission has adequately prepared to conduct the election and it has 60, 000 Kenya Integrated Election Management System (KIEMS) kits ready to be deployed.
