Pre-2012 voters: Who must re-register?
Explainers
By
Esther Nyambura
| Apr 04, 2026
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has clarified that not all voters who registered before 2012 need to register afresh.
In a statement issued on Saturday, April 4, the commission noted that only those who did not register under the biometric system in 2012 and have never updated their registration since are required to do so.
"Should those who registered before 2012 as voters need to register afresh? Not at all, unless they did not register from 2012 when the new Register of Voters was established,” the commission said in its clarification.
The statement follows confusion caused by earlier reports suggesting that all voters registered before 2012 needed to re-register.
“Consequently, individuals who had previously enrolled as voters before 2012 are not part of the current biometric Register of Voters (RoV) unless they subsequently presented themselves for fresh registration. Such persons are, therefore, required to register afresh in order to be included in the current biometric register,” said IEBC chairperson Ethekon.
However, according to IEBC, the recent call to register only applies to those who missed biometric registration in 2012 and have never registered since. All others, including pre-2012 manual registrants who updated in 2012, do not need to register again.
Why 2012?
Before 2012, voter registration was done manually, without any biometric verification.
Following the 2010 Constitution and the delimitation of new electoral boundaries in 2012, the voter register was upgraded to a biometric system.
All eligible voters at that time were required to enrol and have their fingerprints captured, forming the new Register of Voters (RoV), which has been used in every election since 2013.
How to register as a voter
To register, a person must be a Kenyan citizen, at least 18 years old, and have a valid Kenyan national ID card.
The process involves visiting an IEBC voter registration centre, filling in a registration form, and having biometric data captured, including fingerprints, a facial photo, and a signature. Once verified, the voter is added to the biometric register.
Registration is free.