The electoral commission is turning to tech to fix a familiar problem: low youth turnout.

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) says it will soon roll out a digital platform to make voter registration easier ahead of the 2027 General Election. The move is aimed squarely at young, tech-savvy Kenyans who rarely visit registration centres.

Speaking at a prayer breakfast on Wednesday, February 4, IEBC chairperson Erastus Ethekon said the new system would allow Kenyans to fill in their details online before completing the process in person.

“We are introducing a digital platform where you now have a link and a registration form where you can fill in your details,” Ethekon said. “All you need to do is walk into the nearest Huduma Centre or registration centre, give your fingerprints, and you go.”

The chairperson stressed that full registration would still require a physical visit. Biometric data, including fingerprints, must be captured to comply with the law and protect the integrity of the voters’ roll.

According to IEBC, the online pre-registration step is designed to take less than three minutes. Officials believe this could remove barriers such as distance, queues, and lack of time, which often discourage young people from signing up.

The announcement follows sustained pressure from youth leaders and civil society groups who have long called for digital solutions to boost voter participation, especially among Gen Z voters.

IEBC began continuous voter registration in September 2025, with hopes of signing up millions of new voters. But early results were disappointing. Some centres reported fewer than five new registrations in their first week, most of them older voters.

While numbers have improved in 2026, the commission admits the pace is still slow. Recent figures show about 200,000 new voters have been registered so far across the country’s 290 constituencies.

To pick up momentum, IEBC plans to shift to a nationwide mass voter registration drive in March 2026. This will move the exercise closer to communities, with registration carried out at ward level.

The commission says its goal is to register more than six million new voters before the 2027 polls. Whether the digital platform delivers that surge will depend on public trust, access to smartphones, and how quickly the system is rolled out.