IEC Outlines Nomination Requirements for Gambia’s December Presidential Election

By Makutu Manneh

The Independent Electoral Commission moved this week to spell out the legal requirements for candidates seeking to contest Gambia’s presidential election in December, warning that stricter verification measures would be used to weed out irregularities that have marred past nomination processes.

The announcement came during a stakeholders’ forum organized by the commission, where Samboujang Njie, the commission’s chief electoral officer, laid out the qualifications a candidate must meet: Gambian citizenship by birth, a minimum age of 30, and at least a senior secondary school education.

Candidates must also secure the backing of at least 5,000 registered voters, with a minimum of 200 signatures from each of the country’s administrative areas, Mr. Njie said. That requirement has tripped up campaigns in the past, particularly when aspirants submitted lists of names lifted directly from the voters’ register rather than signatures collected in person.

Mr. Njie said the commission would no longer tolerate that practice.

“This time, IEC has the capacity to verify all signatures and voter card numbers and will not hesitate to disqualify any candidate found in breach,” he said.

Officials also pointed to a new provision requiring every voter who endorses a candidate to list a telephone number as part of the nomination package, a measure apparently intended to make signatures easier to verify.

The commission outlined several other conditions candidates must satisfy before their names can appear on the ballot. Each aspirant must submit a sworn declaration of assets, notarized by a justice of the peace or a commissioner for oaths using the commission’s standard form, along with a tax clearance certificate showing that all obligations to the state have been met.

The financial bar for entering the race has also risen sharply. Candidates must now deposit 1 million dalasis into the commission’s bank account, up from previous cycles, and produce both a deposit slip and an official receipt on nomination day. Cash payments, Mr. Njie said, will no longer be accepted at the nomination table.

Independent candidates remain eligible to run under the same qualifications required of party-affiliated contenders, but they must additionally submit a campaign symbol, a color, and photographs to the commission.

Mr. Njie also reminded political parties and candidates that they are bound by a code of conduct governing campaign behavior, and he encouraged aspirants to submit manifestos that promote tolerance, though the law does not appear to make that a strict requirement.

According to the commission’s timeline, nomination forms will become available on Sept. 21, and the formal nomination period for presidential candidates will run from Nov. 3 to Nov. 14, ahead of the December election.