By Haddy Touray
The United Democratic Party (UDP) has called on The Gambia’s Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to clarify what it describes as a 28,932-voter discrepancy between the commission’s announced figure for the 2026 supplementary voter registration exercise and a dataset provided to the party.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the UDP said the IEC announced a total of 212,095 registered voters, while the dataset it received contained 183,163 records.
The party said the difference represented 28,932 voters and called for a clear explanation of the discrepancy.
The UDP stressed that it was not presenting the difference as evidence of electoral malpractice or irregularities, but said the figures warranted clarification to strengthen confidence in the accuracy and integrity of the voters’ register.
The party said it had repeatedly written to the IEC requesting information and datasets relating to the supplementary voter registration exercise but had not received a formal response.
According to the UDP, the requested information includes the total number of voters registered at the end of the exercise before the removal of duplicate or invalid records, the number of duplicate registrations identified and removed, and the final number of registered voters.
It also requested, where available, a breakdown of registration figures by administrative area, constituency, registration centre, gender and age category.
The party said it had requested voter registration datasets before and after the duplicate-verification process, as well as details of the criteria and methodology used by the IEC to identify and remove duplicate registrations.
The UDP further requested information on records removed for reasons other than duplication, records restored or retained following objections or appeals, and any official reconciliation or verification report used to establish the final voters’ register.
The party acknowledged that some information could be affected by ongoing Revising Courts proceedings but argued that other registration statistics, datasets and methodologies could be disclosed without waiting for the conclusion of those proceedings.
The UDP urged the IEC to clarify whether the discrepancy between the 212,095 announced registrations and the 183,163 records in the dataset resulted from different stages of data processing, the removal of duplicate or invalid records, differences in the scope of the datasets or other factors.
It also called on the commission to respond to its outstanding correspondence, provide available registration statistics and datasets, and disclose, where legally permissible, the methodology used to identify and remove duplicate registrations.
The UDP further urged the IEC to engage political parties, the Inter-Party Committee, civil society organizations and other stakeholders to address outstanding concerns ahead of the December 2026 presidential election.
The party said the IEC’s independence did not exempt it from transparency and accountability in the discharge of its constitutional responsibilities.
It also called on development partners, diplomatic missions, civil society organisations and the media to continue monitoring the electoral process and supporting transparency, accountability and public confidence.
The UDP warned that failure to address legitimate electoral concerns could undermine confidence in the electoral process, while reiterating its commitment to peaceful and lawful political engagement.
The party said it would pursue available legal and institutional remedies if its concerns remained unresolved.
“The Gambian people deserve an electoral process in which every eligible voter is accounted for, every legitimate concern is treated seriously, and every institution entrusted with protecting democracy fulfils its responsibilities without fear or favour,” the statement noted.
The UDP said it expected the IEC to treat the matter with urgency and fulfil its responsibility to safeguard the integrity of the electoral process.