By Nelson Manneh & Ndey Sowe
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has on Tuesday, 14th September 2021, declared the 2021 general registration of voters closed as they have not recorded any application or objection from the public.
The commission commenced the 2021 general registration of voters from 29th May to 11th of July 2021 and were able to register nine hundred and sixty-two thousand, one hundred and fifty-seven (962,157) voters.
After the registration process, the commission compiled a voters’ list and published it publicly for all voters to scrutinize and send in their application or complaints for the revising courts to hear cases.
After fourteen days of the publication of the 2021 general registration of voters, Sambujang Njie, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of the Electoral Commission said there was no objection or application from the public.
“The Independent Electoral Commission has now closed the 2021 voter’s registration and continues to prepare for the 4th December 2021 Presidential election,” he said.
With regard to the double registration of voters, CEO Njie said the IEC has removed the names of all those who registered more than once from the initial centres they registered and left the last centre they registered as the centre they have to vote.
“The commission has the mandate to regularize the voter’s list, and in doing so, we decided to regulate the list by making sure all voters have the opportunity to vote once during elections,” he said.
CEO Njie said the IEC is open for election observers who want to participate in the forthcoming election to send in their application.
Alieu Momarr Njai, the Chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission, said all political parties are allowed to send in their party agents to observe the whole election process.
“No authority can influence the Gambia election system because the public is always aware of the election results before the IEC. Our election is always transparent and accountable,” he said.
The IEC Chairman said with the registration of many political parties and the independent candidates who showed their interest to run for presidency, it shows that the candidates for the upcoming presidential election will be many.
The Independent Electoral Commission has registered eighteen (18) political parties all together, four (4) other applicants are in the process and there are twelve (12) independent candidates.
