IEBC must tread carefully on plan to scrap voter IDs
By Editorial, July 29, 2025The elections agency, IEBC, is reportedly mulling a major policy shift that would entail scrapping the requirement for a voter card as a prerequisite for casting a ballot and replacing it with the use of the national ID alone.
While the idea may appear progressive, especially in a digitising era, it must be approached with caution.
The implications for electoral integrity, voter verification, and public trust are far-reaching and require careful evaluation.
At face value, the proposal is anchored in convenience. Many eligible voters misplace or forget their voter cards, leading to disenfranchisement.
By allowing citizens to vote using only their national identification cards, the IEBC aims to reduce voter apathy, streamline the process, and possibly encourage greater turnout.
However, convenience should never come at the cost of electoral security.
Voter cards are not merely tokens of registration.
They are verification tools that confirm not only that a citizen is registered to vote, but also the specific polling station assigned to them.
Scrapping the card could complicate this process, particularly in remote or under-digitalised regions where biometric systems are unreliable or inaccessible.
Without a backup document like the voter card, polling officials may face significant challenges in identifying voters accurately.
Additionally, the proposal raises serious questions about data integrity and system preparedness.
The IEBC’s Kenya Integrated Elections Management System (KIEMS) and Electronic Voter Identification Device (EVID) have previously faced challenges, including server crashes, system failures and power outages.
Relying solely on the electronic register and ID system, without a physical check like the voter card, could open the door to voter impersonation, double voting, or logistical bottlenecks on election day.
Moreover, the voter card acts as a psychological assurance to many citizens – a tangible proof of one’s electoral identity.
The IEBC must also tread carefully not to be muddled in the government’s recent decision to stop vetting new applicants for national IDs in the Northeastern and Coastal regions, a loophole that is likely to be used by some foreigners to participate in voting.
Any means that could give room to foreigners to vote in Kenya’s elections should be rejected.