IEC brief observers on election process The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) recently held a meeting with the international observers at the Kairaba Beach Hotel to brief them on the election process. by Gibril MS Jassey Speaking on the occasion, the chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission, Gabriel Roberts told the observers to contribute to the election process as referees, adding that they (the observers) should keep in close contact with the commission to report any unusual happening. He assured the observers that at the end of the exercise, they would be able to prepare accurate reports for their various countries and organisations. Mr Malleh Sallah, the director of operations at the Independent Electoral Commission, told the observers that there were 509,000 registered voters, 811 polling stations, 28 counting centres and seven collation centres throughout the country. He said polling stations would open at 7am in the morning and close at 4pm in the afternoon. Sallah informed the observers that the system of voting here was through secret ballot. He told the observers that polling officers would first empty the ballot boxes in the presence of party agents at the polling stations to confirmed that the boxes were empty. "From then on, the polling officers would place some sand at the bottom of the ballot boxes and seal them." He said the polling officers would allow the people to vote only when they produce their voters cards but also made it clear that any person with a voters card whose name does not appear on the final register of voters would not be allowed to vote. In a separate engagement, the Gambia security officers, also briefed the observers on security arrangements for election day. Mr Ebou Njie, the inspector general of police, told the observers that on the election day, the role of the security forces would only be to provide security during the election to protect the IEC personnel and government property. He said on that day, the observers can expect to see security officers at such installations. Mr Babucarr Jatta, the army chief of staff also told the observers that the Gambia National Army would be deployed at the boarders for security reasons. The secretary of state for the interior, Ousman Badjie, said on the election day, each polling station would be provided with two police officers, adding that all these officers at the polling stations would not carry any guns but those escorting the ballot boxes from the polling stations would be armed. SoS Badjie urged journalists not to announce any final results, noting that the IEC was responsible for that. _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp <<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>> To view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html <<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>