The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has asked Kenyans who cannot confirm their voter details online to visit their nearest constituency offices for help.
This comes after many people complained over the weekend that they could not access their voter information through the IEBC online portal. Some took to social media to share their frustrations after getting error messages while trying to check their status.
In fact, one can easily come across such error messages like inability to find ID/Passport on the site despite the user being a registered voter. The message advised them to visit IEBC offices for assistance.
The issue caught the attention of activist Allans Ademba, who reached out to an IEBC commissioner for answers. In response, the commissioner confirmed that those facing such errors should go to constituency offices so their details can be checked.
For the commission, however, the visits are not just to make verifications. According to the officials, there could be various reasons why one cannot find their details and thus each of those cases should be looked at separately.
The situation seems to be a challenge mostly for the new voters since people who have registered some time ago indicated they did not have problems with finding their information. In his reaction to the situation, Ademba suggested that if most of the new voters will be asked to go to the 290 constituency offices, it may become overcrowded.
His comment on the problem comes as part of the campaign called Niko Kadi launched last March which led to registering almost 200,000 new voters.
Another presidential candidate, Reuben Kigame, expressed concern that his wife’s details could not be found in the register even though she had been with him at all the past elections.
In response, the IEBC asked Kigame to share his wife’s details so they could investigate the issue.
The confusion comes just days after the commission asked some Kenyans who registered before 2012 to confirm their details. However, IEBC later clarified that not everyone needs to register again. Only those who did not update their details during the switch to biometric registration in 2012 are required to do so.
The commission says the current voter register was created after the 2010 Constitution and the introduction of a digital system meant to make elections more secure and reliable.
