Culled from The Independent As unregistered voters voted IEC communication officer explains Following scathing criticism on The Independent Electoral Commission for allowing individuals whose names were not on the register list to vote during last week's presidential elections, The Independent finally caught up with IEC communication officer Said Yusuf who explained the rationale behind what became a controversial decision. Speaking in an exclusive interview recently, Yusuf stated that the decision of the IEC to allow people whose names were not on the voter register list to vote is because they realised that an error was made during the compilation of the voter list on the register. "After the general registration exercise in May this year, the IEC typist who typed the information of the applicants could have possibly skipped names which were put on the long list. To accommodate that situation without punishing those people who has duly registered for mistakes committed by the IEC, we decided to allow them to vote provided that information on the voters card corresponds with that on the counterfoil," Yussuf disclosed. Yussuf described the counterfoil as the most authoritative document containing more information about the applicant than the voters' card. Asked about the authenticity of those voters cards presented, Mr. Yusuf noted that the IEC allowed people whose names were not on the register list to vote after they showed valid voters cards which corresponded with the counter foil. He noted that their decision to allow those people to vote does not emanate from the IEC itself, which he said, placed great consideration on the voter's interest. Yusuf however denied rumours that IEC officers issued voters cards behind doors in the run up to the elections. "Our officers never issued voters cards beyond the registration date," he claimed, adding that they have an honest staff whose activities are well monitored. The IEC communications officer however noted that the only time the commission reissued voters cards was during the replacement exercise which was accorded to people who lost or wanted to change from one constituency to another. "Provided they paid the fees charged and pass the interview conducted," He said. "Also previous cards were completely cancelled and erased on the register list. This makes it impossible for anyone to be issued with two voters' cards. _________________________________________________________________ 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 To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] <<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>