Bringing the Vote to Pastoralists
Voter registration rates jump during successful campaign.
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| A woman in Garissa registers to vote for the first time.
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In March, Kenya's Interim Independent Electoral Commission (IIEC) began to register voters. The exercise was scheduled to take 45 days.
The IIEC was established by the Government of Kenya as part of the wider reforms being carried out under Agenda 4 of the Kenya National Accord and Reconciliation Act. The IIEC is charged with reforming the electoral process, which includes creating a new voter register.
Officials monitoring the registration process identified the Garissa region, in eastern Kenya, as the area having the lowest participation rates in the country. Halfway through the exercise, only 38 percent of eligible voters had registered, a rate well under the IIEC target.
To help improve registration rates, USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) partnered with the provincial administration in Garissa, identifying the lack of transport for registration workers as one of the biggest challenges facing the effort. Garissa encompasses a vast pastoral area, and some polling stations are more than 260 km from the district headquarters.
"Some of the people have businesses and won't walk long distances to get a voter's card, so we had to find a way to get to them," said Michael Ahere, who assisted in the registration process.
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OTI partnered with Garissa's provincial government to support voter registration efforts. After just 10 days, registration rates nearly doubled, rising from 38 percent of eligible voters to more than 62 percent.
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OTI provided fuel for vehicles, funds for accommodation and meals, and shawls and traditional head scarves for female registration workers. The project also provided guidance to registration officials and enlisted local radio stations to help prepare communities for the registration activities.
In less than two weeks, 62 percent of the area's eligible voters were registered, and by the close of the registration period, the area had more than 71,000 registered voters.
The IIEC receives support from the USAID/Kenya Democracy and Governance office to improve the electoral process and establish new structural systems. The OTI program in Kenya supplements and complements existing USAID Mission programs to address the causes and consequences of the country's 2007/2008 post-election violence.
For further information, please contact:
Megan German, Program Manager - Kenya, 202-712-1997, mgerman@usaid.gov.
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