The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has announced the that the commission will suspend the application for new registration, and change in registration of voters in Kenya and for Kenyan citizens living outside the country from Wednesday, May 4 2022 up to March 13, 2023.
The new developments were announced by IEBC chairperson Wafula Chebukati through a gazette notice. The Gazette notice¸ said that the move is to allow the commission to enable availability of register of voters to the public for purposes of verification of biometric data and particulars of registered voters.
“The commission notifies the pubic that this suspension is to enable availability of the register of voters to the public for purposes of verification of biometric data and particulars of registered voters in accordance with sections 6A of the Elections Act, 2011,” Chebukati said.
Chebukati also said that the new Preliminary Register of Voters has been completed and is available for verification. This exercise will begin on on May 4 and will last for a period of 30 days.
During the verification period, Kenyan who have registered to vote and whose name or biometric data has not been captured correctly in the register of voters may make a claim to the Registration Officer.
General elections are slated to be held in Kenya on 9 August 2022. Voters will be able elect the President, members of the National Assembly and Senate, county governors and members of the 47 county assemblies.
In preparation for the elections, IEBC announced that it intends to hire 418,000 temporary positions ahead of the August 9 general election in Kenya. The deadline for application is Thursday, May 5, 2022.