IEBC lauds Kenyans for high turnout as 2.6 million new voters registered

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has announced that it has surpassed its voter registration target under the Enhanced Continuous Voter Registration (ECVR) Phase One, registering over 2.6 million new voters.

Speaking during a press briefing on Thursday, IEBC Chairperson Erastus Ethekon said the Commission had set a target of 2.5 million new voters within 30 days and successfully met it.

“We had a target of 2.5 million new voters within 30 days, and we managed to meet that target,” said Ethekon.

The 2.6 million includes 267,249 voters registered from September 29, 2025, under continuous voter registration, before the launch of the mass exercise, and 2,345,476 voters captured during the enhanced voter registration phase.

“To put it into perspective, this is the number we have registered in the last 30 days,” he said.

The nationwide exercise, which ran from September 29, 2025, to April 28, 2026, was conducted across 30,657 registration centres, with 12,420 officials deployed countrywide.

He said the Commission also deployed 5,390 KIEMS kits across 290 constituencies, 1,450 wards and 57 Huduma Centres, while partnering with universities, colleges and Anniversary Towers to boost registration.

The IEBC boss noted that the 2026 ECVR recorded improved performance compared to previous mass voter registration drives.

“The trajectory enabled us to record on a weekly basis over 500,000 new registrations. By comparison, in 2016 Phase One, they managed to capture around 1.4 million voters against a target of 4 million within 30 days,” he said.

“This effectively eliminated geographical restrictions that historically have constrained participation of citizens in registration exercises,” he said.

Other factors cited include data-driven planning, real-time performance monitoring and enhanced stakeholder engagement involving political actors and youth-led organisations.

The IEBC Chairperson also commended Kenyans for their participation in the exercise, particularly the youth, who he said played a key role through the NikoKadi initiative.

He further lauded the media, the elderly and women groups for mobilising voters through community networks such as chamas and educational institutions.

“We thank every Kenyan who has supported the exercise,” he said.

Ethekon added that the Commission is now embarking on the process of cleaning up the voter register as it prepares for the next phase of electoral planning.