THE TRUTH ABOUT THE STATE OF VOTER REGISTRATION
From week One, when the IEBC released its first report on the progress of voter registration, a narrative that has been popularized is that Jubilee strongholds are doing better than CORD/NASA ones. They’ve thrown around percentages to back this assertion. This is only half the story.
The following are true:
1. The figures given for opposition-leaning areas reflect the true picture and are still low.
2. Highlighting percentages and not absolute figures hide the fact that in actual numbers more voters have been registered in opposition counties than in Jubilee-dominated ones. My computation of Week Three reports showed that CORD/NASA have registered 1,052,773 voter’s against Jubilee ‘s 893,409; with 127, 270 in battleground counties. Remember, 60% of 350 is less than 40% of 600!
3. The unusually high figures in Jubilee strongholds are a reflection of illegal BVR registrations done using the data of NYS cohorts, which will be expunged from the register.
The narrative that Jubilee is leading is being popularized to justify the intended manipulation of electoral outcome and to discourage people in Opposition areas from registering to vote in an election whose results are already fixed by the “tyranny of numbers ”
As we continue to urge our supporters to register in large numbers for an unassailable victory, they need to know that history and victory are on our side.
Questions we need to ask:
a) If Jubilee is as confident of victory as they claim, Why are they trying to have multiple registration status ? Why fraudulently register as voters those who had applied to join NYS? Why’d they insist on the so-called manual back-up?
Meanwhile:>>
NASA leaders; Raila Odinga, Kalonzo Musyoka, Musalia Mudavadi and Moses Wetangula received the IEBC officials at Capital Hill.
NASA leaders told the IEBC team that:
• Whether Kenya sinks or remains afloat this year is in the hands of the Commission.
• Kenyans will not take another stolen elections. This is not a threat.
• You all look very young. That means that God willing, you have many more years ahead than all of us. That makes it very important that you secure the future of the country and your own future.
• Your commission is starting with the lowest confidence Kenyans have in an electoral body. You are starting at below ground zero. You have a duty to gain the confidence of Kenyans that they will go through free and fair elections.
• You can emerge from below ground zero into heroes of this country.
And finally, NASA directs IEBC officials that they have no choice but to deal with the issue of interference by NIS in IEBC activities. It is true NIS is interfering in IEBC affairs.
They also raised the following questions to IEBC officials:
i). What informs the choice of countries where diaspora will vote? You have mentioned South Africa. Why not Ethiopia or South Sudan?
ii). Who is sitting on the Technical Committee on ICT? Who is sitting on it?
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