• 22 per cent of youth aged 18-24 years did not register as voters.
• 89 per cent of registered youth aged 18-34 years intend to vote.
Image: FILE
Young people form the majority of Kenyans who never registered as voters ahead of the August 9 polls.
A survey released by TIFA Research on Thursday said 91 per cent of people surveyed reported being registered voters, the majority of them being those aged 45 years and above.
The poll showed that young people aged between 18 and 24 years accounted for 78 per cent of those who registered as voters.
It said 91 per cent of those aged 25-35-year-olds claimed to have registered as voters, 35-44-year-olds accounted for 96 per cent of registered voters while the majority (98 per cent) are those aged 45 years old and above.
The nine per cent who said they never registered as voters gave varied reasons for their decision.
Forty-four per cent said they had no interest because elected leaders do not keep their promises.
Thirteen per cent said they have no interest in voting because elections are usually rigged while another 13 per cent said they were too busy to find time to go and register as voters.
Another 10 per cent said they have no interest in registering as voters because there is no real difference between the candidates.
Image: TIFA RESEARCH
The polls were conducted in three counties; Nairobi, Murang'a and Busia.
In Nairobi, the survey was conducted between March 2 and March 7 2022 with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 .5 per cent.
In Murang'a it was conducted between March 5 and March 8, 2022, with a margin error of plus or minus 4 .7 per cent.
In Busia, the research was carried out between March 2 and March 7, 2022, with a margin error of plus or minus 33 per cent.
A total of 780 respondents, both male and female, were contacted through telephonic and household interviews across 17 constituencies.
In Murang'a, 400 male and female respondents were contacted across seven constituencies through household interviews while 510 male and female respondents were contacted in Busia county across seven constituencies via household interviews.
Image: TIFA RESEARCH
All the 91 per cent who claimed to have registered as voters said they intend to vote in the next elections, although 20 per cent said they are not confident that the upcoming elections will be free and fair.
Another 10 per cent said they are not sure whether or not the polls will be free and fair while 37 per cent said they are completely confident.
The 9 per cent who said they do not intend to vote gave four reasons for their decision.
Twenty-six per cent said they are not satisfied with parties or their candidates, 24 per cent said they lack faith that their vote will make a difference while 17 per cent said they won't vote because they did not register as voters.
Another 10 per cent said they won't vote because they will be too busy or because the polling station is too far.
Among those who intend to vote, the majority are aged 45 years and above (94 per cent) followed by 35-44-year-olds (92 per cent).
Among the youth aged between 18-24 years, 89 per cent said they intend to vote, with a similar percentage of those aged between 25 and 34 years old saying they will vote.