Enrol 6m voters to hit next year’s poll target
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) must not leave anything to chance in its preparations for next year’s General Election.
One of its key responsibilities is registering eligible voters so they can exercise their constitutional right to elect leaders of their choice in August next year.
This is a great opportunity that Kenyans who have attained the age of majority enjoy every five years in the choice of their leaders. Of course, it is up to them to either extend the tenure of the incumbents or throw them out and usher in a new group to take care of all the electoral units from the grassroots to the national presidency, which is the highest office in the land. It is comprehensive preparations that will determine whether the poll will be free and fair.
Transparent elections that yield the true verdict of the voters are at the core of a democracy, which is a government through elected representatives.
The IEBC’s key constitutional mandate is to manage elections and enhance democracy by ensuring fairness and peace in co-operation with security agencies. The electoral agency has just launched a major campaign to enlist six million voters.
It is mainly targeting youth, especially would-be first-time voters, with registration desks set up in colleges, universities and other institutions. It hopes to enlist 2.5 million voters in the next 30 days.
The agency is confident that this will be achieved through the Enhanced Continuous Voter Registration (ECVR) launched on Monday. The IEBC hopes to increase the number of registered voters from the 22 million in 2022 to 28.5 million, with youth accounting for 75 per cent of those targeted, Chairman Erastus Edung Ethekon says.
It should, therefore, encourage and enable eligible voters to register during the month-long campaign in the discharge of its civic duty in the run-up to next year’s elections.
The IEBC should strive to eliminate the hurdles that discourage potential voters.
Follow our WhatsApp channel for breaking news updates and more stories like this.
