The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has given Azimio la Umoja Presidential candidate Raila Odinga assurance after he raised pertinent questions regarding election preparedness.
On Sunday, June 12, IEBC Chairperson Wafula Chebukati responded to the questions noting that the August 9 elections would be conducted without the use of a physical register.
The body argued that the register had been used inappropriately in the past elections but in the upcoming polls, all voters will be identified electronically using biometric data.
To secure the kits, IEBC noted that each gadget, which will contain the digital register, will have a specific QR code for purposes of voter identification.
The former Prime Minister had raised concerns over the electronic identification of voters arguing that there had been an unusual increase in the number of voters.
Azimio had also questioned the electoral body over the recruitment of tallying officials including returning officers and why it chose to exclude political parties from the process.
The coalition also sought to know the measures that the commission put in place to ensure there were no lapses in the logistical and security aspects of the General Election as well as in the transmission of results.
In response, Chebukati assured us that the state had contracted Inform Lykos to print ballot papers that would be delivered to their warehouse. The papers will also be fitted with security codes to prevent duplicates.
In the matter of transmission of results, IEBC indicated that plans were in high gear to provide modems to over 1,111 polling stations that lacked 3G or 4G coverage. The modems will help in the swift transmission of electronic results.
Regarding the recruitment of returning officers, Chebukati explained that, unlike in past elections, IEBC had officially recruited the officers as permanent employees of the electoral body hence the decision not to involve political parties.
This is the first time returning officers have been permanently recruited as permanent employees. Previously, they were only contracted to cover the elections.
In the recently concluded exercise, IEBC registered 2.5 million voters and is still undergoing the process of cleaning up its exercise after being flagged off in a voter-register audit by KPMG.
