Kenya Electoral System Support

This initiative seeks to reduce the barriers that prevented the participation of 45.7% of the eligible voting population in the 2007 elections by implementing a civic and voter education program. The project also focuses on improving voter registration and identification systems. The goal is to ensure the accuracy credibility and representativeness of the voters' roll so that previously disadvantaged groups such as women and youth are included. Some project activities include: (i) conducting focus groups and stakeholder consultations in five pilot constituencies to collect information on low voter turnout particularly among women and youth; (ii) implementing a civic and voter education program in up to five pilot constituencies with help from Elections Canada and scaling the program up to the national level; (iii) working with Kenya’s Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and the National Registration Bureau (NRB) to establish a protocol for sharing national citizen registration and voter registration data between the two organizations to capture the necessary voter registration information; and (iv) supporting Kenya’s IEBC to develop and implement a strategy for the sustainable reliable and credible use of election technology in particular biometric voter registration kits.

The expected intermediate outcomes for this project include: (i) strengthened civic engagement and voter education of future and current Kenyan voters in particular women and youth; and (ii) improved credibility and reliability of the Kenyan voter registration and identification systems.