ELOG renews push for voter register audit amid fraud allegations
ELOG's renewed push follows recent claims by Royal Media Founder SK Macharia, who alleged voter fraud in previous elections, including the 2022 General Election.
The Elections Observation Group (ELOG) has reiterated its call for an independent audit of Kenya's Register of Voters (RoV), citing persistent anomalies and the need to safeguard electoral integrity ahead of the 2027 General Election.
In a statement released today, the independent observer group further urged the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to grant it access to the voter register, as concerns over its credibility continue to mount.
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"Once the new IEBC commission, has been constituted, it should assess the accuracy of the current voter register through an independent and unbiased audit ahead of 2027 polls," stated the group.
ELOG's renewed push follows recent claims by Royal Media Founder SK Macharia, who alleged voter fraud in previous elections, including the 2022 General Election.
Speaking at a funeral on Saturday, Macharia claimed he had warned Raila Odinga's campaign team of irregularities in the voter register but was ignored.
"In the 2022 General Election, we went to Naivasha to strategise for Raila's candidacy. At Naivasha, I tried to explain that the then voter register was fraudulent, but Raila was impatient," revealed SK.
ELOG has been at the forefront of advocating for electoral reforms since 2010 and has conducted several audits of the RoV, uncovering systemic weaknesses in voter registration and database management.
According to the observer group, past assessments of the register have revealed significant errors.
"A 2012 audit flagged 143,530 inconsistencies, while a similar exercise in 2017 uncovered 169,646 duplicate records, even after the IEBC had conducted a clean-up," observed the group.
Additionally, ELOG expressed concerns about deceased voters appearing on the register citing a 2017 KPMG audit that pointed to approximately 1,037,260 deceased individuals still being listed as active voters.
"The issue of updating the voter register, especially regarding the removal of deceased voters, has been problematic," added ELOG.
The group then emphasized that while technological advancements such as the Kenya Integrated Election Management System (KIEMS) kits have mitigated some risks, the continued use of manual voter identification in certain polling stations leaves room for potential manipulation.
"Despite not auditing the 2022 RoV, ELOG observed that there were concerns about voter transfers, cleaning, and certification of the final register that were not properly addressed by the IEBC," stated the organization.
ELOG's call aligns with recent proposals by the National Dialogue Committee (NADCO), which recommended that the next electoral commission either undertake a comprehensive clean-up of the voter register or create a new one entirely.
"We agree with NADCO that this process must involve robust public participation and stakeholder engagement," ELOG emphasized.
With the 2027 elections approaching, pressure continues to mount for the IEBC to take decisive action to restore public confidence in Kenya's electoral processes.
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