The Gambia is set for the supplementary registration of voters on Wednesday, eight months before the country’s election cycle begins with a presidential vote next December.
The exercise will last for 44 days, ending on May 21st 2026 when hundreds of thousands of eligible Gambians would register for the crunch election season.
The head of the Independent Elecoral Commission Joseph Colley, in a statement attributed to him on the eve of the exercise, exhorted all eligible citizens to demonstrate their weight in numbers at registration centres spread across the country.
He said the active participation of Gambians in the exercise would have a direct bearing on the success of the electoral process which begins with registration.
According to IEC figures, 962,157 were registered for the 2021 presidential election and the 2022 national assembly vote.
The IEC had since revealed the election schedule which begins with presidential election on December 5, 2026 with incumbent President Adama Barrow bidding for a third term.
It would be the first polls without the now retired Alieu Momar Njie, who as then IEC chairman, had presided over the controversial 2016 presidential election, which President Yahya Jammeh lost to rockie challenger Adama Barrow.
It was the first election loss by an incumbent in the history of Gambian elections
Mr Barrow, 61 has since won the 2021 presidential vote, beating perennial opposition challenger Ousainou Darboe.
The lawyer who worked under President Barrow as foreign minister and later vice president, had unsuccessfully ran for the presidency under the enduring United Democratic Party for a record five times.
The 78-year-old will be Barrow’s main challenger for the December 5th poll.
National Assembly and Local Government elections will hold early in 2027 to complete Gambia’s electoral cycle.
WN/as/APA