the supreme court ruling is an eye opener for people. The IEC being an independent institution should be seen to be independent. If according to their claim that only 263 voter transfers and replacements took place, why should they allow people whose names are not the master and supplementary register to vote. This in a way would proof what the opposition were crying foul of. We should live by transparency and seen to be done.



Joe Sambou <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Folks, desperation is setting in. Please read on.


Foroyaa Newspaper Burning Issues

Issue No.73/2005, 19-21 September, 2005




Editorial

THE IEC AND VOTING WITHOUT NAMES

APPEARING IN THE REGISTER OF VOTERS

The IEC returning officers need special review of section 66 of the
Elections Decree to avoid any wrong directive to presiding officers
regarding the proper way to conduct the voting process on 29th September
2005.

The returning officers should take note of the fact that no person can vote
whose name does not appear in a register of voters.

Section 60(1) of the Elections Decree requires every voter who desires to
vote to present himself or herself together with his or her voting card to
the presiding officer.

Subsection (2) makes it mandatory for the presiding officer to satisfy
himself or herself that the name of the voter is in the copy of the part of
the register of voters allocated to his or her polling station before giving
him or her a ballot token to cast his or her vote.

In fact section 66(4) (c) makes it a requirement for the presiding officer
to prevent a person from voting if the name in the voters card is not the
name in the register of voters.

The register of voters is therefore the instrument that determines who
should vote. Infact without registration there will be no way of getting a
voters’ card if one’s original card is lost or stolen.

The IEC needs to get its private legal adviser to study section 66 and come
with an independent and impartial posture on whether it is permissible under
law for a person to vote whose name does not appear in a register of voters.

THE IEC needs to act very quickly to avoid any controversy.




---------------------------------
Yahoo! Messenger  NEW - crystal clear PC to PC calling worldwide with voicemail

¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html

To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]
¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤