IEC nears voter registration target, as it registers over 750,000 voters

The nationwide voter registration exercise ahead of scheduled presidential, parliamentary and local government elections is drawing to a close, with the Independent Electoral Commission nearing its target of 800,000 eligible Gambian voters.

Latest figures released by the Commission yesterday indicated that the provisional number of registered voters at the end of the fifth week of the exercise (5th May-8th June) was Seven Hundred and Seventy Nine Thousand, Nine Hundred and Ninety Two (779,992).

The Commission reiterated its earlier pronouncement that there would be no extension of the dates for the registration exercise, while urging other eligible Gambians who have not yet registered to do so in the remaining one week.

The six-week exercise, which comes 10 years after the last voter registration exercise held in 2001, is targeting over 800,000 eligible Gambian voters from the ages of 18 and above.

As opposed to the then manual registration of voters, the IEC took what it said is a leap forward with the introduction of a new computerized voter registration system to meet what it calls the current realities of The Gambia's democratization process.

Supported by CODE Inc, an international company, the digital system, according to the Commission, is in line with its drive to modernize and add value to The Gambia's electoral process, which it said continues to go from strength to strength.