By Nelson Manneh
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has on Saturday the 29th May 2021 commenced general registration of voters all over the Gambia and the commission is expecting to register one million voters.
Alieu Momar Njai, the chairman of IEC in a press conference held by the commission on Friday 28th May 2021 at the election house, said the conduct of the general voter registration is key in the electoral cycle of 2021 to 2023.
Njai said a person has to be a Gambian citizen and should at least be eighteen years by the 14th December 2021, to be qualified to vote in the forthcoming electoral cycle.
The IEC under section 43 of the 1997 constitution has the mandate to conduct voter registration and conduct all public elections. It is against this backdrop that voter registration is conducted to register all eligible citizens to provide election with the opportunity to exercise such constitutional rights.
“Its success is pivotal in the conduct of subsequent electoral activities. 2021 general voter registration will begin on 29th May 2021. The previous general voter registration was conducted in 2011. It was conducted in over six hundred and thirty-six registration centers and eight hundred registration officers were contracted,” Chairman Njai said.
For the 2021 general registration of voter, Njai said, two hundred and twenty (220) voter registration teams have been employed to seven hundred and thirty registration centers across the country.
“These teams are being manned by eight hundred and eighty officers. One million voters are expected to be registered,” he said.
“One needs to provide one of the following documents to be registered: valid Gambian Identity Card, Gambian Passport, Birth Certificate, or an Attestation from Alkalo or Seyfo,” he added.
The chairman called on eligible Gambians to turn out in their numbers to register during the conduct of the 2021 general registration of voter’s cards.
“This would enable them to participate in various elections,” he said.
