IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati, CEO Ezra Chiloba and commissioners. [Photo: IEBC]The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), in partnership with IFES, has rolled out a campaign to educate, engage and motivate the youth to participate in the August 8, general election.Under the banner of Y-VOTE (Youth Vote), the initiative aims at using social media and on-ground activations to rally 18-29 year olds to come out and vote. The slogan “Youth Twendeni Tukavote” is a Swahili slang for “Youth, let’s go and Vote”.The Y-VOTE road-show caravan was flagged off on June 20, from Kangemi’s Kihumbu-ini grounds, Nairobi, by IEBC Commissioner Margaret Mwachanya. The campaign will run until July 28. “The IEBC is committed to conducting elections in a peaceful environment where the voice of all voters are heard equally, regardless of age, gender or social status,” said Mwachanya. She noted that IEBC had a special role to educate first-time voters on the electoral process. According to IEBC Communications Director Andrew Limo, the Y-VOTE caravan will traverse 17 counties across the country, motivating the youth with door-to-door canvassing, interactive voter education games, distribution of voter education material and community dialogue.The activation campaign targets areas with a high number of first time voters. It also targets areas with typically low voter turnout and to stem the high number of spoilt votes."Y-VOTE ads are running on digital platforms – Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to educate and motivate youth to vote," Limo said in a communication.

Share news tips with us here at Hivisasa