The August 9th general election will be yet another shot at the Kenyan dream. Whatever you do, make your vote count.
Voter Registration
The recently concluded enhanced mass voter registration drive managed a meager 1 million, falling six times short of the targeted 6 million fresh voters. And yet, for eligible Kenyan voters residing in the country, the window of opportunity remains open till June 9, 2022 (the voter register closes sixty days before the general elections). Only that, this time, it will happen at any Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Constituency office near you.
A citizen who remains complacent, needs to rethink the cost of inaction. Democracy, as underpinned by majority rule, it is a numbers game. Failure to vote means the youth have leaders imposed by the few who will make their vote count. You are damned if you don’t.
Voting process
Going to the polls means checking in at your registered polling station. The IEBC polling clerks will verify your name in the official voter register. Then you are issued with six color coded ballot papers for the Member of County Assembly, County Woman Representative, Member of the National Assembly, Senator, Governor and President positions.
Heads up! This is the crux of the matter. First, you can only make a mark against your candidate of choice. If you mark elsewhere, you could spoil the vote. In case you feel you have erred or have spoiled the ballot, request the presiding officer to be issued with another paper. The improperly marked will be confiscated once the IEBC presiding officer is satisfied that your reason is accidental and was not an intentional attempt to spoil the ballot(s). A mistake done here may take five years or even a lifetime to undo. After voting, leave the polling station.
Diaspora voting
Praiseworthily, the Independent Elections and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has cast a wider net and for the third time since 2013 polls, Kenyan register voters in diaspora can still take part in voting in the Presidential race only. Kenyans abroad will vote in the diplomatic centers–high commissions, consulates, and embassies – in cities where they reside.
Parting shot
To first-time voters, voting is your constitutional and civic duty, that you shall observe every five years, or during a referendum or a by-election– do it with a religious fervor. So, guard against borrowing the thinking of the Kenyan-pessimists. Take the front seat in building the Kenyan project.
