Road to 2027: IEBC targets 6.3M new voters, pledges early technology overhaul

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has issued a roadmap to the August 10, 2027 General Election.

IEBC says its top priority is to set up election technology as soon as possible, amid warnings by opposition leaders that they will not be party to an election where the current technology firm, Smartmatic, is involved.

This came as the commission held a prayer breakfast meeting with the Evangelical Alliance of Kenya, seeking divine intervention as it embarks on what it described as a long and slippery path to deliver the next General Election.

While giving its election roadmap, IEBC told the church that it is ready to deliver not only a free and fair election but also a believable election.

In its roadmap, IEBC says it will begin a mass registration of voters across the country, an exercise that will run for 30 days from March 29th to April 29th.

In the mass voter registration, IEBC says it is targeting 6.3 million new voters to push the total number of registered voters to 28.4 million.

In its roadmap, IEBC says it aims to ensure that election technology is in place by June 2026. The United Opposition last week visited Anniversary Towers to demand that the current election technology firm, Smartmatic, be terminated.

"We have not yet discussed and approved the technology that we will use in the next election. When that time comes, we shall tell the public as our single duty," said Ethekon.

Results transmission was questioned in the 2022 General Election, with the new election team now saying its electronic results transmission system will be ready by October this year.

According to the roadmap seen by Citizen TV, IEBC affirms that a specialized task force is currently designing a new electronic results transmission framework to enhance speed and security.

To tame campaign extravagance, the Ethekon-led poll body says a campaign financing law will be ready in September this year to regulate funding and expenditure.

In April 2027, IEBC will commence the recruitment of temporary election officials, including clerks and presiding officers.

In the following month of May 2027, IEBC says political parties will have concluded their primaries, and the commission will then procure election materials ahead of the Tuesday, 10th August 2027 General Election.

The church called on the poll body to stick to its election timelines and prepare a transparent General Election.

"As churches, we have taken steps early enough to start addressing issues that would appear that the church did not take any action," said Bishop Kitoto.