The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission(IEBC) has bowed to pressure from political players and agreed to have a physical voter register as a complementary to the electronic voter identification system during the August 9 polls.
IEBC succumbed to pressure after Azimio La Umoja-Kenya Kwanza coalition insisted on having the physical register as a backup in case the digital identification gadgets fail.
During a consultative meeting with the four presidential candidates IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati said the commission would make the copies ready before the voting day.
He however insisted that the electronic voter identification system will be the primary voter identification document and the physical register will only be used as a last resort.
There has been a heated debate among political players on whether IEBC should deploy the physical voter rolls at polling stations on voting day.
Questions have been raised on the effectiveness of the digital voter identification system especially in areas where network connectivity is still an issue.
Civil society groups have already filed a petition in court seeking to compel IEBC to have the manual voter rolls as a complementary to the digital register.
Deputy President William Ruto said the Kenya Kwanza coalition will be comfortable with the use of the digital roll as long as the IEBC gives sufficient assurances on its effectiveness.
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