Press Conference 4th October 2011
Speech by Alhaji Mustapha L. Carayol, Chairman of The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), At a Press Conference at The IEC Headquarters along Bertil Harding Highway on Tuesday 4th October 2011 at 11.00 am.
• Distinguished Members of The Commission
• Representatives of Diplomatic Missions
• Representatives of Political Parties
• Members of Staff of The IEC
• Ladies and Gentlemen of The Press
Once again I welcome you to the IEC.
Today marks fifty one days to Election Day. The IEC continues to seek the indulgence of the Gambian electorate, the general public and all other stakeholders in the electoral process of the Gambia.
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen
Before going further, I wish to express the Commission’s sincere gratitude to all the Stakeholders for their invaluable support over the period and we hope that this will continue to flourish.
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen
After successfully concluding the 2011 General Registration of Voters Exercise, the provisional lists 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 River Region and 10 from Kanifing Municipality. However, 2 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.
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen
The digital system of voter registration employed was also used as a platform upon which a biometric matching was conducted. The cross matching query was able to detect a very high number of multiple registrations. These are people who registered more than once.
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
1883 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 the 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.
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen
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. These people 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 spoilt 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.
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen
The Presidential Election will be held on Thursday 24th November 2011. Nomination of candidates will be held on 10th November 2011 from 8 O’ clock in the morning to 4 O’ clock in the afternoon. Campaign will commence on 12th November and end on 22nd 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. We also expect to reduce the voting time for every voter on polling day. As indicated, we have also remarkably increased the number of polling stations to give better access to all voters.
The Commission 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 all media houses to join them in this massive voter sensitization.
The Commission is also working closely with other stakeholders most specifically those in the entertainment industry. We hope that they will also play a very pivotal role in the massive voter sensitization campaign.
Invitation letters have already been sent out to International Organizations, Continental and Regional Bodies and Embassies accredited to the Gambia to send in observer missions to the forthcoming Presidential Election. It is gratifying to note that the response is so far positive. Invitations for the domestic observers will be sent out very soon. However, all those groups who wish to observe the election can write a letter of intent to the Chairman for accreditation. I wish to make it abundantly clear that only those accredited by the Commission will be able to observe the election.
The Commission is at an advanced stage as far as the recruitment of temporary staff is concerned. The Regional Offices have already shortlisted those deemed qualified to do the job and interviews for the various positions will commence on Monday 17th October 2011 at all the Regional Offices at the same time. Commission Members and Senior Staff of the IEC will conduct the interviews. As was the case during the Registration of Voters Exercise, very competent staff will be recruited and trained for the Presidential Election.
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen
I wish at this juncture to announce the election date for the National Assembly Elections. The National Assembly Elections will be held on 29th March 2012. This 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 8th to 10th March 2012. Campaign will commence on 14th and end on 27th March 2012.
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen
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.
To conclude, we would like to implore the participation of each and every voter and the general public at large in the electoral process.
I thank you for your attention.
