Democratic Party leader Justin Muturi has raised concern that weaknesses in Kenya’s electoral system could open the door to manipulation if reforms are not introduced before the 2027 general election. Speaking during an interview on Radio Generation, Muturi said gaps in voter identification, reliance on biometric technology without voter cards, and an incomplete voter register could affect the credibility of future polls.
Muturi said the debate around election integrity is growing as the country begins to look ahead to the next national vote. He warned that key issues in the voting process need open discussion and urgent reforms to protect public confidence in elections.
One of his main concerns is the way voters are identified at polling stations. According to Muturi, many voters are allowed to cast ballots using only their national identification documents rather than voter cards.
“When you go to vote, nobody asks you for the voters card. You just ask for your ID,” he said.
He explained that voters normally place their fingerprints on biometric kits that verify their details before they are issued with ballot papers.
“You place your thumb in the biometric kit, your photograph will show and after that you are given a ballot,” he said.
The Democratic Party leader said the process began to worry him after meeting people who claimed they had voted in areas where they were not registered. He recalled a conversation with individuals who told him they had cast ballots outside their constituencies.
“They told me, ‘Do you know actually we voted in Baringo?’,” Muturi said.
That encounter led him to question why voter cards are issued if they are rarely used during the voting process.
“Why are you given the voters card if you’re never going to use it?” he asked.
Muturi argued that excluding voter cards from the voting process may expose elections to manipulation and said the system should require them for identification.
“I think there is still merit in the voters card,” he said. “I think we should just make it exclusive that voting shall only be by the use of your voter card.”
Beyond voter identification, Muturi also raised doubts about the integrity of election technology used during past polls. He referred to concerns about how election results are transmitted electronically and later processed at the national tallying center.
He said questions have been raised about the conversion of transmitted forms during the tallying process.
“By the time those documents arrive at the national tallying center they are in PDF form, and anything can happen in between,” he said.
Muturi noted that such concerns were part of the wider debate surrounding past elections and helped him understand the reasoning behind the decision by the Supreme Court of Kenya to annul the presidential election during the 2017 Kenyan presidential election nullification.
The former attorney general also pointed to challenges in maintaining an accurate voter register. He said audits of the voter roll rely heavily on official death certificates to remove deceased voters, yet many deaths across the country are never formally recorded.
“In many communities people die and within hours or days they are buried,” he said. “The only thing they require is the burial permit, not the death certificate.”
According to Muturi, this situation means some individuals who have died may still appear on the voter register.
“There are many people who have died who may have been registered voters and the names are still in the voter register,” he said.
He argued that the absence of proper records makes it difficult for auditors to fully clean the register.
“The audit work done by auditors is not conclusive,” he said.
Muturi linked these issues to the wider challenge of building public trust in elections. He said reforms must begin early so that political players have enough time to review key elements of the electoral process.
Among the issues he highlighted was the need to publish polling stations well in advance of the election. Opposition leaders have recently urged the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission to gazette polling stations at least six months before voting day in order to reduce confusion and prevent disputes.
Muturi said early planning and transparency by the electoral body would allow parties and voters to examine the process and address concerns before election day.
He also reflected on the long history of election disputes in the country, saying allegations of manipulation have been part of Kenya’s political conversation for decades.
“These stories about rigging, we have not quite moved away from that desire to rig,” he said.
Muturi called for reforms aimed at improving transparency and restoring confidence in elections. He said political competition should be driven by policies and ideas rather than suspicion about how votes are counted.
“We should compete on the basis of ideas, and whoever wins fairly should shake hands and move on.” he said.
He warned that unless these reforms are addressed ahead of the next polls, political contests in Kenya may continue to be shaped by disputes over the credibility of election results.
