From Freedom Newspaper:

Breaking News: Gambia: 796,929 Gambian Voters To Vote In November Polls-Chairman 
Carayol Tells Political Leaders
796,929 Gambian Voters To Vote In November Polls-Chairman Carayol Tells 
Political Leaders 

As IEC Briefs The Media, Political Parties And Others

By Staff Reporter Ebrima Jarju, Banjul

The Chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) Alhaji Mustapha L 
Carayol has said that as at now, the number of registered voters ahead of the 
November Presidential Elections is 796,929.  He was speaking at a press 
conference Tuesday at the IEC headquarters along Bertil Harding Highway.  The 
purpose of the press conference is to give the final figure on the final voter 
roll and other pertinent issues on the presidential election as today marks 
fifty one days to Election Day. The IEC according to Carayol, continues to seek 
the indulgence of the Gambian electorates, the general public, and all other 
stakeholders in the electoral process of the Gambia.

After successfully concluding the 2011 General Registration of Voters Exercise, 
the provisional list of voters were published at the registration centers across 
the country. At the completion of the display and public scrutiny of the 
provisional list of voters, there was no Appeal but the Commission received 173 
Objections. 163 of the Objections were from Central Region and 10 from Kanifing 
Municipality. 

However, two of those objected to from the Kanifing Municipality honorably 
surrendered their cards to the Commission before the commencement of the 
Revising Courts.

The cases have already been heard by the Revising Courts and only five cards 
have been expunged from the register. “The digital system of voter registration 
employed was also used as a platform upon which a biometric matching was 
conducted,’’  the IEC Boss noted. 

The cross matching query was able to detect a very high number of multiple 
registrations. These are people who registered more than once he told the 
meeting.

Carayol further stated that the following information was provided by the IEC 
Database in respect of double or multiple voter registrations:

1 person registered 5 times in 5 Registration Centers

2 persons registered 4 times in 4 Registration Centers

11 persons registered 3 times in different centers and 1183 persons registered 2 
times.

Thus a total number of 1897 persons are the suspected cases of people who 
registered more than once. Thump print and facial recognition were used as the 
means of detecting this.

The Commission in collaboration with the Political Parties as a matter of 
goodwill granted a period of amnesty to the suspected cases of those who 
registered more than once. 

However, the response was not very encouraging and so consequently, the 
Commission instead of taking all these people to court, took this bold decision 
of deleting all cards except the most recent one. As a consequence, all those 
suspected cases of double registration’s names will appear only once in the 
register.

At the end of the General Registration of Voters exercise, it was announced that 
the number of registered voters stood at 837, 039. As at now the number of 
registered voters is 796,929 and these are the people who will be voting at 1, 
302 polling stations across the country.  The reason for this drastic drop is 
that the registration officials at the time added the spoil and cancelled cards 
in the statistics that they sent as returns from the field. Consequently, during 
the finalizing of the register, these records were removed.

“The Presidential Election will be held on Thursday November 24, 2011, 
Nomination of candidates will be held on November 10, 2011 from 8 O’ Clock in 
the morning to 4 O’ Clock in the afternoon whiles the campaign will commence on 
November 12, 2011 and end on 22 November 2011.’’

The Commission is already ahead of time as far as the overseas procurement of 
materials is concerned. Those to be procured locally are also being taken care 
of. With the advent of the new digital voter registration system, we will 
undoubtedly see remarkable improvements in the electoral service delivery in the 
forthcoming elections. The voters’ picture and personal details will be shown on 
the head register and we also expect to reduce the voting time for every voter 
on pooling day.

As indicated, the IEC Boss disclosed that they have also remarkably increased 
the number of pooling stations to give better access to all voters.

The Commission according to him in collaboration with the National Council for 
Civic Education (NCCE) and other partners will embark on a massive 
sensitization. The NCCE will deal with civic education and the IEC will mainly 
focus on voter education and voter information.

The management of the Gambia Radio and Television Services has already been 
contacted as far as what their role is prior, during and after the 
electioneering period. The Media Rules on Elections have already been sent to 
them. These same Media Rules will be made available to all other Media Houses.

“Remember that election is the business of all Gambians and so the Commission 
enjoins the media houses to join them in this massive voter sensitization,’’ 
said the Commission Chairman.

The IEC is also working closely with other stakeholders most specially those in 
the entertainment industry and we hoping that they will also play a very pivotal 
role in the massive voter sensitization campaign.

 On the election date for the National Assembly, he said that will be held on 
March 29, 2012 as it is in consonance with Section 96 subsection (1) of the 
Constitution of the Gambia which reads: “there shall be a general election of 
all the members of the national Assembly which shall be held four months after 
the date of election of office of the President.’’ Nomination days will be March 
8, 2012-10 as campaign will commence on March 14, 2012 and end March 27.

Lawyer Ousainou Darboe, Hamat NK Bah, Halifa Sallah all spoke at length calling 
on the IEC to revisit the election period as the time is not adequate which is 
not favorable to the oppositions as the APRC has been campaigning for a longer 
period. The opposition is asking for an extension of the campaign period.  But 
the IEC Boss however stated that the dates will never be changed.   

“We expect Gambians, once again to fully demonstrate their sense of maturity and 
the respect and love for law and order, peace and tranquility in all these 
activities,” said the Election Chairman. 

The IEC would like to implore the participation of each and every voter and the 
general public at large in the electoral process.

For news tips, and rejoinders, please e-mail our editor at: [log in to unmask], 
or [log in to unmask] Tel. 001-919-749-6319 

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