The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has expressed concern over voter apathy in Kisumu County with the commission registering 10 per cent of its target in the first week.
The commission Vice Chair Lilian Mahiri-Zaja said the number of people coming out for the mass voter registration from the county was not impressive, a situation which may see the commission fail to achieve its voter listing targets.
According to the statistics released by the commission during a media workshop on elections on Wednesday in Kisumu, the county was said to have registered 16, 967 new voters in the first week of the exercise.
The commission had targeted to register 110, 460 new voters from the county during the one month exercise, but the law turn out may not enable the achievement.
“It is our request that the media help us to sensitize the public that voter registrations their right and they need to come out and exercise this right,” she said.
Mahiri said the media has widely focused on the shortcomings of the commission and forgotten to educate the public on the importance of participating on the voter registration.
“The mass voter registration will be closed on March 15 and this will mean that eligible voters who shall not have registered will have to walk long distances to the constituency offices in order to register as voters. It is therefore important that people come out now when the exercise is brought closer to them,” she said.
The Vice chair also said national voter registration will be closed on May 10, 2017 and those who will not have registered will not participate in the 2017 general election.
She said the register will be closed early enough to allow the commission time to inspect and certify the register before the elections.