Youth applying for IDs should be given the option of registering as voters at the same time, the selection panel for the appointment of commissioners to IEBC has been told.
The panel, which was conducting oral interviews on Thursday, heard that registering people as voters when they are applying for IDs would enhance participation in democratic processes.
Caroline Njeri, who is seeking to fill one of the four vacant positions at the electoral agency, further said mass registration of voters should be conducted at several intervals within the election cycle and not just before the General Elections.
“Young people applying for IDs should be given the option of registering as voters without having to go to another office. They should pick their polling stations at the spot,” she proposed.
She said the move would curb instances where so many youths acquire IDs but are not registered as voters.
The IEBC last month announced that it is seeking to register over four million people when it sets out to register youths who are now eligible to elect their leaders.
Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission Chairman Wafula Chebukati said the youths being targeted in the latest registration campaign were not eligible to vote during the 2017 General Election.
The number of registered voters stands at 19,687,885, as of May 2021.
Out of the total, only 149,600 Kenyans enlisted as voters across the country after the last elections.
The commission launched the continuous voter registration on October 15, 2015, but due to financial constraints, the exercise has been confined to constituency offices.
Thursday was the second day of the IEBC interviews.
Thirty-six applicants were shortlisted to fill four positions that were left vacant following the exit of Roselyne Akombe, Paul Kurgat, Connie Maina and Margaret Mwachanya after the 2017 General Elections.
