By: Kebba Ansu Manneh
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has registered 41,565 new voters during the first week of the ongoing supplementary voter registration exercise, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Sambujang Njie announced on Thursday.
Presenting provisional figures at a daylong multi-stakeholder forum on April 23, 2026, Mr. Njie said the registration, which ran from April 8 to 15 across all electoral areas, recorded a strong turnout, particularly among women.
According to the breakdown, Brikama led with 8,100 registrations, followed by Yarambamba with 6,742, Kanifing with 6,424, Mansa Konko with 4,945, Basse with 4,909, Kerewan with 3,860, Janjanbureh with 2,596, Wassu with 2,006, Sibanor with 1,266, and Banjul with 770.
Out of the total 41,565 registered voters, 22,863 were female, representing 55 percent, while 18,702 were male, accounting for 45 percent.
“The figures show encouraging participation, especially from women, who have demonstrated strong interest in exercising their franchise,” Mr. Njie noted.
However, the first week was not without challenges. The CEO disclosed that one voter registration team in the Yarambamba Electoral Area encountered a significant technical glitch involving incorrect date settings on their laptops. The computers were mistakenly set to August instead of April, resulting in 253 voter cards being printed with the wrong month.
“As of today, we have retrieved and replaced 235 of these cards with correctly dated ones,” Mr. Njie explained. “The remaining 18 cards are still being tracked, and we urge the affected applicants to return to the registration center for replacement.”
He added that the issue has largely been resolved, and the team is now operating with the proper settings.
Other operational hurdles included generator failures caused by excessive heat across various parts of the country and printer head issues due to dust accumulation. The IEC provides power backup for all registration centers, but high temperatures affected some generators.
To address this, the Commission has released 25 replacement generators nationwide. Staff have also been advised to check printers and replace affected print heads where necessary regularly.
Mr. Njie called on all stakeholders, political parties, civil society organizations, and the general public to cooperate fully with the registration teams and maintain law and order throughout the exercise.
“The supplementary voter registration is a critical national assignment aimed at ensuring every eligible Gambian has the opportunity to register and participate in upcoming elections,” he stressed. “We urge citizens to take advantage of this window and register in their respective areas.”
The multi-stakeholder forum brought together representatives from political parties, civil society, the media, and security services to review the progress of the registration and discuss ways to ensure its smooth continuation.
The supplementary voter registration exercise is expected to continue for several more weeks, allowing eligible Gambians who missed previous registrations to enroll.
