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Voters queue at Mutsuma polling station to vote in the West Kabras Ward by-election on February 26, 2026.
The regional distribution of new voters registered out of a projected 6.3 million and how they will impact on the statutory ceiling of 700 per polling station will determine the allocation of an extra 9,000 polling stations.
These additional polling stations will raise the number of stations set to be deployed for the 2027 General Election to 55,393, up from 46,229 used in the 2022 elections.
This is according to a document the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) presented to parliament, as it maintains the number of voters per polling station at the current 700 threshold.
This means that the IEBC will require 59,959 Kenya Integrated Elections Management System (Kiems) to comfortably manage the elections, with 3,959 Kiems kits reserved for the training of election officials at the commission’s constituency offices.
IEBC Chairperson Dr Erastus Ethekon noted that the mapping of the projected new polling stations will, however, be determined by the outcome of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) currently happening in all the 290 IEBC constituency offices and the expected Mass Voter Registration (MVR) exercises.
“The new polling stations will be set out in areas where the existing polling stations and voter registration centres go beyond the maximum 700 voters,” said Dr Ethekon, adding, “there will also be consideration for distance and bringing elections closer to the voters.”
The projected new polling stations are among the baseline guidelines the commission has developed to be used in the preparation of the next general elections.
Section 38A of the Elections Act states that the number of voters per polling station, “for the purposes of providing efficient and effective conduct of elections, shall not exceed 700.”
Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission Chairperson, Erastus Ethekon addresses MPs during the 2026 Legislative Retreat for Members of the National Assembly in Naivasha, on January 27, 2026.
Dr Ethekon also revealed that the commission plans to retain the already existing register of voters of 22.3 million, “plus the projected new voters” based on the National Population Register (NPR) data, translating to 28.63 million voters.
“The CVR will continue as mandated by the constitution, and an enhanced MVR per year. Verification of the voter register will be done six months before the 2027 general election,” the IEBC document states.
In the race to enlist the 6.3 million new voters by 2027, IEBC has already shifted to more scientific data at the National Registration Bureau (NRB) and the Directorate of Immigration Services (DIS) as it goes for accuracy.
Previously, IEBC has been relying on the traditional census data model to set its voter registration target, which it now says “has proven inaccurate, unsustainable and not veritable.”
The 6.3 million new voters target was set using the census data model that relied on the Voting Age Population (VAP), which the commission is now abandoning for the “more accurate NRB and DIS data” that is Voter Eligible Population (VEP) centric.
Voter registration modalities
The shift pays attention to the actual number of citizens who possess the requisite registration documents.
“The commission observed that the VEP model utilizes data from NRB and DIS, thereby narrowing the target setting on disaggregated identity cards and passports issued,” a report of the Constitutional Implementation Oversight Committee (CIOC) before the National Assembly reads.
The CIOC report adds that “this actual national identity card/passport data-driven targeting approach ensures that resources are deployed efficiently and performance benchmarks are realistic and attainable.”
Article 83 of the constitution provides for qualifications to register as a voter, with the legal requirement being the possession of a national Identity Card or a valid Kenyan passport.
The commission has been using the census data to map the eligible population and estimate voter registration targets by calculating the population of persons who would have attained the voting age of 18 by the time of the general election.
However, the commission notes that the nature of the census report includes persons who are ineligible to register as voters.
These include non-citizens, undocumented citizens and refugees, “leading to target inflation that does not disaggregate data based on legal eligibility.”
On the voter registration modalities, the electoral commission noted that to achieve its voter registration target and ensure that “no Kenyan is disenfranchised,” it intends to adopt “several strategies”, including the continuous voter registration exercise at each of the 290 IEBC constituency offices.
The other strategies include the use of Huduma Centre registration centres across the country, ward-based enhanced registration drives, conducting continuous voter registration in institutions of higher learning and registration of citizens residing outside the country as voters.
The IEBC constituency offices serve as the service point for registration of citizens as voters, as well as updating of particulars to facilitate first-time voters to register at any time upon obtaining a national identity card or a passport.
On August 28, 2025, Dr Ethekon gazetted September 29, 2025, as the resumption of the continuous voter registration to allow eligible Kenyans to register, transfer their registration, correct voter details or inspect their records at any of the 290 IEBC constituency offices across the country.
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