The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission has announced a scheduled maintenance exercise on its voter verification portal, citing plans to transition to an upgraded digital infrastructure.

In a statement issued to the public, the commission said the upgrade is intended to improve system performance and reinforce security ahead of future electoral operations. IEBC acknowledged that the temporary downtime may cause inconvenience and appealed for public patience during the process.

"The Commission highly regrets any inconvenience this may cause and appreciates your understanding as it works towards serving you better," IEBC stated.

The commission assured Kenyans that the registration data of 22,120,458 voters, collected during the 2022 General Election, remains secure and will not be affected by the ongoing migration process.

The electoral agency added that it will notify the public once the portal is back online and fully functional.

This announcement follows growing online speculation regarding the integrity of the voter register, after a viral post claimed that IEBC was preparing to delete over two million so-called ghost voters.

The post singled out Kiambu, Meru, Nairobi, and Nyeri as counties with the highest number of alleged fictitious registrations.

IEBC dismissed the claims in a June 5 statement, calling the allegations false and misleading.

"Please note that the commission currently neither has a chairperson nor members of the commission. Therefore, any information circulating on social media is null and void," IEBC stated via X (formerly Twitter).

At the time of the statement, the electoral body was yet to be reconstituted. However, President William Ruto later appointed Erastus Ethekon as chairperson on June 10, alongside six new commissioners, moving to fill the leadership void left after the 2022 transition.

IEBC also reiterated that there is no audit of the voter register underway, and no instructions have been issued to revise the electoral roll.

"IEBC remains steadfast in its commitment to strengthening Kenya's democracy," the statement read.