The
14-day official campaign period ended yesterday, and tomorrow, Thursday 1
December 2016, Gambians will go to polls to elect a president that will
preside over the affairs of the country for the next five years.
The
Independent Electoral Commission said there are 886,578 registered voters for
this election, and there would be 1,422 polling stations in the 53
constituencies of the country.
Polls
would open at 8am and close at 5pm, but those at the queue at sharp 5pm would
be allowed to vote; anyone who comes even a minute after 5pm will not be
allowed to vote.
Counting
of votes will take place at the polling stations immediately after close of
polls, and the people to be allowed in the counting centres include IEC
officials, two polling agents per candidate, accredited media practitioners,
regional authorities such as governors, National Assembly members, councilors,
mayors, chairpersons, seyfolou and alkalolou.
Gambia’s
electoral system is based on a simple majority, meaning any of the three
candidates who lead the polls by even one vote will be the
president-elect.
Voting
is by secret ballot using the marble and drum system, which is unique to The
Gambia.
Instead
of a ballot form which is used worldwide, voters in The Gambia are given a
marble to vote after presenting their biometric voter’s cards bearing their
photograph, name, and fingerprint, for scrutiny.
Each
of the three presidential candidates has a separate sealed drum identified by
his or her photograph with party colour and symbol.
The
colour of the ruling APRC is green and its symbol is palm tree. The opposition coalition is colour grey, and
its symbol is right hand with index finger pointing upwards. The opposition GDC’s colour is purple, and
symbol is a calabash.
After
giving a marble, voters go in secret, drop their marble through a tube in a
drum of their candidate of choice; the marble strikes a bell inside the drum as
it falls. The sound of the bell can be
heard clearly even outside the booth.
This arrangement prevents multiple voting as commonly seen in elections
in Africa.
This
system, which is said to be tamper-proofed, was invented after many experiments
by two colonial officials, Smith and Weston.
In
this election, the incumbent president, Yahya Jammeh, is seeking a fifth term
of five years. He first stood for
election in 1996 and got 55.77 per cent.
In 2001, he got 52.8 per cent; in 2006 - 67.33 per cent; and in 2011 –
71.54 per cent.
He
is facing a fierce contest by the coalition of seven opposition parties and one
independent candidate. The coalition is
led by businessman Adama Barrow.
The
other contestant is the standard bearer of Gambia Democratic Congress, Mamma
Kandeh, who is an ex-parliamentarian for the incumbent party, but later got
fired from the party and eventually lost his parliamentary seat.
As
regard international election observers, the European Union has been denied
observer status to monitor the election, EU sources said.
Ecowas
would not also send observers because their request was received after the deadline,
the IEC said. This is the second time
Ecowas will be absent in Gambia’s election; the first one was in 2011.
It
would be noted that this is the first time the IEC is doing on-the-spot
counting, for which the commission must be commended.
