The Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has defended itself over its newly launched SMS voter verification platform which returned results even for non-existent national identity numbers.
IEBC Commissioner Dr Roselyn Akombe has said that the 'anomalies' were as a result of maintaining 171,000 voters whose ID details had been entered wrongly.
"For instance in the case where “0” yielded results for a person registered in Kirinyaga, the clerical officers could have entered the serial number instead of the ID number and we have shared this with all the political actors who have agreed that we should not expunge these Kenyans from the register because their biometrics are right," Akombe told Citizen Extra on Monday.
However, Political analyst Mark Bichachi disagreed with Akombe saying that allowing the 171,000 voters to stay in the register is illegal and could open up a valve for a major litigation in courts or open Kenya for anarchy.
"Being a Kenyan means that you have a valid ID card or a passport to be able to vote. If the ID card number does not exist, there is no correct way of identifying someone biometrically that they are Kenyan. The basis in law of registering as a voter is through ID Card and not via fingerprints. I must have a valid ID card to vote," Bichachi said.
To check registration status, a voter texts the ID number to the code 70000 and immediately receives a detailed message confirming name, county, polling station code and ward.