NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 11 – The inspection of the voters\’ register has come to a close.
The Interim Independent Electoral Commission however said those who did not manage to verify their details at registration centres or via SMS by Sunday should not worry since clerks would match data in the provisional register and the manual book.
"IIEC would like to thank all those who took time to check if their details were captured correctly by either to going to their polling centres or by SMS querying. It helped us make corrections faster," a statement from the commission stated.
According to the statement, the finalised register is expected to be ready by the 21st of this month.
"Copies of the final register will then be made available to political parties, referendum committees and other interested parties," it added.
There will also be copies at the IIEC constituency and regional offices for those who wish to confirm the status of their registration.
The commission also gave the assurance that it is working hard to ensure that the register and other processes and structures are in place before the August 4 referendum.
It expressed its determination to ensure that the national register is drawn out accurately despite the challenges it encountered.
"The making of a national voter register involves transferring records from a manual format to a digital record so as to be accepted by the computer. Scanning large number of documents puts pressure on machines and people. Some people also register more than once and have to be removed and their details entered in the register of de-registered persons," the statement explained.
The IIEC said the challenges were anticipated and that is why the law provides a month for inspection and correction.
The IIEC piloted electronic voter registration in 18 constituencies and pointed out that there were minimal errors with the electronic registration and the creation of registers was faster.
"The Commission will certainly explore the possibility of registering electronically countrywide in future," the statement said.
The countrywide registration saw more than 12 million people enrolled as voters in a record six months.
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