NAIROBI, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Kenya's cabinet on Friday ordered
the election commission to introduce an electronic register of
voters, a day after the organisation said it had dropped plans
to acquire the technology, raising fears of election fraud.
Presidential and parliamentary elections on March 4, 2013
will be the first since a disputed poll in 2007 triggered ethnic
violence in which more than 1,200 people were killed. It will
also be the first since Kenya adopted a new constitution.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC)
had planned to acquire biometric voter registration technology
to replace a manual system that was discredited in 2007 when
ballot boxes were found to contain the votes of people who had
not registered or were dead.
But the IEBC said it had abandoned the plan after the
tendering process descended into acrimony.
"Cabinet today resolved to support the biometric voter
registration system ... to help build public confidence in the
electoral system ahead of the general elections," a statement
issued by the presidency on Friday said.
(Reporting by James Macharia; Editing by Janet Lawrence)