Biometric Voter Registration and Electronic Voter Identification System On Credibility Of The Electoral System In Kenya; A Case Study Of Nairobi County

Abstract

Transparent, Free, fair, and credible elections are core to electoral democracy and provide vital means of empowering citizens to hold their leaders accountable. However, accountability of public officials in Kenya has been undermined by the fact that elections in the country are perennially fraught with irregularities. The announcement of the disputed 2007 presidential election results in Kenya on December 27th, 2007 led to what could be described as the worst political crisis in Kenyan post-colonial history. This study was guided by the following specific objectives; to establish the effect of Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) on the credibility of the Electoral System in Nairobi County, to determine the effect of Electronic Voter Identification System (EVID) on the credibility of the Electoral System in Nairobi County. The study was anchored on Technology Acceptance Theory and employed a descriptive research design. The target population was 2,251,929 registered voters in Nairobi County and 40 Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, technical officials. A sample size of 351 respondentswas used determined using Fisher’s (2007) formula. Primary data for this study was collected using structured questionnaires. The analysis involved both descriptive statistics and inferential statistics.The inferential results showed a positive correlation of (r=0.773, p=0.000) between biometric voter registration (BVR) and credibility of electoral systems. Results on electronic voter identification (EVID) and credibility of electoral systems showed a positive correlation of (r=0.784, p=0.000). Furthermore there was a significant effect between biometric voter registration (BVR) and credibility of electoral systems(β=.356, p=0.000), and on electronic voter identification (EVID) and credibility of electoral systems (β=.380, p=0.000). The study concluded that biometric voter registration (BVR) and electronic voter identification (EVID) in the electoral process is very efficient in reducing or eliminating multiple registrations and multiple voting. The study recommends that there should be adequate and strict protocols for supervision, management and storage of electoral data.