By Makutu Manneh
Lamin Manneh, Deputy Administrative Secretary for External Affairs of the United Democratic Party (UDP), has called on the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to provide political parties with raw voter registration data to enable independent verification ahead of the 2026 elections.
“We as a party have written to the IEC and requested that the raw data be provided to us before the deletions, after the deletions, and who was deleted, because confidence and control are not mutually exclusive. They can co-exist. And this is what we are trying to do,” he said.
Manneh made the request at the IEC’s monthly stakeholder forum, where he also commended the Commission for distributing flash drives containing voter information, describing the gesture as commendable rather than premature.
He said that if parties are granted access to the raw data, they would be able to review how deletions were handled, conduct their own verification, and subsequently meet with the IEC to discuss any discrepancies.
Manneh described the IEC and political parties as partners in the electoral process, noting that this partnership is the basis for their monthly stakeholder meetings. He added that a cohesive and supportive working relationship requires that parties be able to carry out such checks.
He urged the Commission to release the data so that both the IEC and political parties could examine the same information and compare results, arguing that access to raw data would allow parties to more effectively monitor the electoral process.
Responding to Manneh, IEC Chairman Joseph Colley said the concern had been noted and that the Commission would respond in due course.
“You are stakeholders; whatever happens, we will have to come back to you. We have not forgotten your letter. We will definitely get back to you,” he said.
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