Vihiga IEBC clerks begin door-to-door voter listing

IEBC clerks in Vihiga county have embarked on a door-to-door registration of new voters as the designated centres remain deserted.

For the last six days, clerks have been engaged in new voter hunting to boost chances of meeting the expected numbers ahead of the August 9 General Election.

IEBC is expected to register about 4.5 million new voters countrywide. 

Vihiga county returning officer Jackline Osiemo told the Star on Wednesday that the clerks had no option but to go door-to-door to list new voters as prospective ones continue to stay away from registration centres.

“Here in Vihiga we are expecting to register about 63,190 voters but we have only managed to register 4,909 voters,” Osiemo said.

The county returning officer was speaking at the IEBC offices in Chavakali.

“Hamisi subcounty has topped the list in terms of voter registration, with 1,444 voters captured and Luanda subcounty tails the list with 742,” she said.

“Emuhaya subcounty is second in terms of voters’ registration with 987 new voters, while Vihiga and Sabatia subcounties both have 868 new voters,” she added.

Osiemo said the county currently has 295,135 registered voters, but they are optimistic that the number will increase before the close of the second phase of voter listing.

Luanda IEBC returning officer Sylvester Omollo decried poor turnout, citing the rains experienced in the first three days of the exercise.

He said they are going to market centres, schools and door-to-door to ensure they reach their target.

“I have instructed my team to go where the people are because if we wait at the designated stations we won’t register as much. We are also  pushing our voter educators to up their game and reach as many people as possible,” Omollo said.