Voter verification portal is back—IEBC
On Sunday, the IEBC claimed the interruption to routine system maintenance, which was part of a broader infrastructure migration aimed at improving both performance and security.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has reinstated its voter verification portal after days of outage that triggered widespread concern about the status of voter data for millions of people.
At the weekend, the outage affected both the commission's web portal and SMS verification platform. In an update on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday, the IEBC said, "The Voter Verification Portal is back - up and running! We appreciate your patience during the maintenance period," while providing a verification link.
On Sunday, the IEBC claimed the interruption to routine system maintenance, which was part of a broader infrastructure migration aimed at improving both performance and security.
The disruption, however, came at a politically sensitive time. With momentum already building toward the 2027 General Election, Kenyans were unable to confirm their registration details for a number of days.
During the outage, the SMS platform—requiring users to send their ID or passport number and year of birth to 70000—was also unavailable, amplifying public anxiety.
“We wish to assure all Kenyans that the registration details of the 22,120,458 registered voters, as recorded during the 2022 General Election, remain intact and secure,” announced IEBC on Sunday seeking to calm concerns from the public.
“The system upgrade was necessary to bolster service delivery through improved system performance and data security,” it noted.
Despite these assurances, the commission has been criticised over its poor communication during the outage since it failed to disclose when the maintenance work had begun, how long it would last, or the exact nature of the changes being implemented.
The lack of a clear timeline fueled speculation and revived longstanding concerns about transparency and trust in Kenya’s electoral processes—especially given the country’s history of disputed elections.
The voter verification portal is considered a cornerstone of electoral integrity, allowing citizens to confirm their inclusion in the electoral roll and to flag errors ahead of polling. With over 22 million registered voters and growing interest in the next general election, the effectiveness and transparency of the IEBC’s operations are likely to remain under public scrutiny.
