The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has clarified that Kenyans who registered as voters before 2012 are not required to register afresh unless they were not captured in the biometric register.
In a statement on Saturday, April 4, IEBC explained that the current Register of Voters (ROV) was established in 2012 following the promulgation of the Constitution of Kenya 2010 and the subsequent electoral boundaries delimitation.
The new system replaced the manual voter register with a biometric one, requiring all eligible voters at the time to re-enroll and have their biometric data captured.
“Should those who registered before 2012 as voters need to register afresh? Not at all unless they did not register as voters from 2012 when the new Register of Voters was established,” IEBC said.
The electoral body emphasised that the biometric Register of Voters has been in use since 2013 and remains the official register for elections in Kenya.
As of the 2022 General Election, the Commission said it has maintained an audited register comprising 22,120,458 voters.
“This is the ROV that has been in place since 2013. As of the 2022 General Election, the Commission maintained an accurate and audited register comprising 22,120,458 voters,” the commission said.
Further, IEBC emphasized that only individuals who registered before 2012 but did not subsequently enrol in the biometric system and have not done so to date are required to register.
“So we have not asked all old voters pre-2012 to register a fresh. Just those few who might have missed registering in 2012 and who, subsequently, have never registered under the Biometric system to date,” the commission added.
The clarification comes amid concerns over whether long-time voters needed to re-register ahead of the 2027 General Election.
