Kenya’s electoral body has announced the resumption of continuous voter registration in a bid to expand the country’s voter base before the 2027 General Election.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) said the exercise will begin on Monday, September 29, at all constituency offices across the country, excluding areas currently holding by-elections.
Citizens will be able to register as first-time voters, update or correct personal details, transfer polling stations or verify their information.
To qualify, applicants must be Kenyan citizens aged 18 and above, possess a valid national identity card or passport, and not have been convicted of an election offence in the past five years. Those previously declared of unsound mind are also ineligible.
IEBC chair Erastus Ethekon said the commission aims to register an additional 6.3 million voters, beyond the current 22.1 million already on the roll.
“Our projection is not based on census data, as was the case in past cycles, but on records from the National Registration Bureau. We anticipate registering all Kenyans who will have attained voting age by the time of the exercise,” he said.
The exercise is backed by a Sh8 billion allocation from the commission’s overall Sh57.3 billion election budget. Other key expenditures include Sh7 billion to replace ageing KIEMS kits, Sh2.5 billion for voter education and Sh2.4 billion for system maintenance.
The announcement has already generated political attention. Opposition leaders have urged young Kenyans, especially members of Generation Z, to take advantage of the exercise and register in large numbers. Many analysts believe the youth vote could be decisive in 2027, following last year’s protests that placed Gen Z at the forefront of political mobilisation.
But the initiative also faces scepticism. Civil society groups have questioned whether the IEBC is adequately prepared to manage the logistics of a registration drive of this scale, citing past controversies over incomplete registers, missing names and faulty technology. Others argue that voter apathy remains a major challenge, particularly among middle-class Kenyans who often disengage from electoral processes.
Even so, the commission is positioning the registration campaign as a step towards inclusivity and credibility in the next election. For many Kenyans, the exercise will be a litmus test for whether the country can avoid the pitfalls that have long undermined trust in its electoral process.
Do you want me to add reactions from government leaders as well, to balance against the opposition calls, or keep it focused on IEBC and the youth angle?
