Gambiaj.com – (BANJUL, The Gambia) – The opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) has called on the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to fully reconcile figures from the recently concluded supplementary voter registration exercise, insisting that its concerns are aimed at strengthening public confidence in the electoral process rather than alleging fraud.
Addressing a press conference on Monday, UDP leader Ousainou Darboe said the party had identified discrepancies in the voter registration data released by the IEC and was seeking clarification before the final voter register is certified.
UDP questions voter registration figures
Darboe said the IEC initially informed political parties that 212,095 people had registered during the supplementary registration exercise. However, according to the data provided to political parties on flash drives, the UDP’s analysis found only 179,445 registered voters, leaving a difference of 32,650.
Following complaints by the UDP, Darboe said the IEC acknowledged that registrations from the first day of the exercise, April 8, had been omitted and later released an additional list of 3,713 voters.
He said this brought the total in the data available to the party to 183,163 but still left nearly 29,000 registrations unexplained.
According to Darboe, the IEC attributed part of the difference to the removal of 14,334 individuals involved in multiple registrations. Even after accounting for those deductions, he said the UDP’s calculations still showed about 14,600 voters whose status remained unexplained.
“We are simply asking for a full reconciliation of the figures so that all political parties and the Gambian people can have confidence that the electoral register accurately reflects the outcome of the registration exercise,” Darboe said.
Extension of scrutiny period requested
The UDP also called for an extension of the period allowed for political parties and the public to scrutinize the provisional voter register.
Darboe argued that the register had not been published simultaneously across the country and that many names were initially omitted, making it difficult for stakeholders to properly examine the list or file objections against ineligible voters.
He maintained that the objection period should begin only after the complete register has been made available.
Darboe also said the party believes the legal deadline for filing objections falls on July 21 rather than July 20, arguing that under the Interpretation Act the day of publication should not be counted.
“We are not accusing the IEC.”
Despite raising concerns, Darboe repeatedly stressed that the UDP was not accusing the electoral commission of fraud or misconduct.
“We are not alleging fraud or wrongdoing on the part of the IEC,” he said. “This is not about politics. It is about protecting the confidence of every Gambian voter in the democratic process.”
He urged UDP supporters to avoid confrontational language and instead focus on strengthening confidence in the country’s electoral system.
Party Seeks Access to Raw Voter Data
Speaking at the same press conference, UDP Deputy Administrative Secretary for External Affairs Dr. Lamin Manneh explained that the party wanted access to the IEC’s complete voter registration database before and after the removal of duplicate registrations.
He said the party’s own IT system had detected discrepancies between the figures announced by the IEC and the data supplied to political parties.
Manneh said the UDP met IEC officials earlier on Monday, where both sides agreed to continue discussions to reconcile the figures.
He noted that of the 212,095 registered voters announced by the IEC, 14,334 people were identified as having registered more than once. While some cases appeared to result from misunderstanding or administrative errors, he said others could involve deliberate attempts to commit electoral fraud.
He said the UDP wanted the IEC to provide the complete raw data, including the original register, the list of duplicate registrations, and the corrected database, so the party could independently verify the figures.
“Our objective is to have free, fair, and credible elections on December 5 where nobody can say they were cheated out of victory,” Manneh said.
He added that the UDP has spent years developing its own election monitoring software and wants to use it to verify the integrity of the voter register before the presidential election.
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