IEBC adds more than 10,000 polling stations ahead of August polls
Wafula Chebukati, the chairman of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission.
The number of polling stations for the August elections has increased to 52,481 as the electoral commission seeks to ensure more Kenyans turn out to vote.
In a newspaper advert published on Friday, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) announced 418,192 temporary vacancies to be filled ahead of the elections, among them 52,481 presiding officers.
Each presiding officer manages a polling station, meaning that IEBC has added thousands of polling stations ahead of the polls. In the 2017 General Election, there were 40,883 presiding officers, while 31,987 served in 2013.
The Elections Act fixes the number of voters per polling station at not more than 700.
Presiding officers
The major role of a presiding officer is to oversee all aspects of voting at a polling station, and is answerable to the returning officer.
The presiding officer also oversees the polling clerks and must have an understanding of the voting procedures.
The IEBC wants to recruit 47 deputy county returning officers, 47 county-based voter educators and 290 constituency-based voter educators.
The other posts to be filled include presiding officers (52,481), polling clerks/counting clerks (302,860), ICT clerks (580) and deputy constituency returning officers (290).
Candidates must apply for the jobs online, the IEBC said, asking applicants to look up the duties, qualifications, requirements and application procedures on its website, www.iebc.or.ke.
The advertised jobs are part of the IEBC’s efforts to ensure free and fair elections.
The officials will undergo training to ensure they are well versed with their mandates.
The IEBC added that the portal would close on May 5, urging interested applicants to submit their documents on time.
The announcement of the temporary jobs comes days after IEBC chairperson Wafula Chebukati stated that his agency was ready to deliver free, fair and credible elections.
Voter register
In 2020, IEBC officials told the National Assembly’s Justice and Legal Affairs Committee that the final voter register should be ready at least one month before the August 8 General Election.
This is because, after verification, the IEBC will then clean up the register and create the version against which voters’ names will be checked on polling day.
