20th July 2026
Fellow Heads and Representatives of Political Parties Present
Members of the United Democratic Party
Members of the Press
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good Afternoon,
Thank you for your attendance at this Press Conference on short notice. Today, the United Democratic Party wishes to update the Gambian people on our review of the recently concluded 2026 Supplementary Voter Registration. Our objective is simple: to promote transparency, strengthen public confidence, and ensure that all stakeholders have confidence in the integrity of our electoral process.
Prior to the commencement of the supplementary registration in April 2026, a United Democratic Party delegation, led by myself and senior members of my executive, met with the senior leadership of the IEC. The purpose of that meeting was to address outstanding concerns from previous exercises, clarify procedures, and strengthen safeguard measures that would buttress the voter registration process. During that meeting, we raised several issues relating to the prevention of multiple registrations and explored possible technical solutions. We offered to provide technical expertise that could support efforts to eliminate, or at the very least, minimize multiple registrations. The Commission informed us that implementing such a system before the commencement of the exercise would not be feasible due to time constraints.
Throughout the registration exercise, the UDP deployed agents across the country to observe the process and collect registration information. Following the completion of the exercise, our Information Technology team analyzed the data collected by the party and the data made available to it by the IEC.
The IEC publicly announced at a monthly IEC-Stakeholder Forum held at the Kairaba International Conference Centre, in June 2026, that 212,095 Gambians registered during the Supplementary Voter Registration exercise. Following a detailed analysis of the voter registration dataset initially provided by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), the technicians of the United Democratic Party (UDP) discovered discrepancies between the data. The data provided by the IEC to the political parties showed the total of 179,445 registered voters, that is a differential of 32,650 voters. After protests, the IEC admitted that those registered on the 8th of April had been omitted from the initial publication. Consequently, the list was updated with an additional 3,713 voters, that is a cumulative total of 183,163 voters. This still leaves a discrepancy of 28,932 voters. The IEC claims that another 14,334, representing the multiple registrations should be deducted from the 28,932. That would still leave an unaccounted number of 14,598 voters.
On July 16, The UDP wrote formally to the IEC requesting the total registration data before deletions, the number of duplicates removed, the final register after deletions, and the complete datasets before and after adjudication, that is, reconciliation of the figures.
We also requested an extension of the scrutiny period to ensure that political parties and the general public have sufficient time to examine the complete register once it is made available to ensure the transparency, clarity and credibility of the electoral data.
The UDP met with the IEC earlier today and the team will brief you on the outcome of the meeting
Let me be absolutely clear. The UDP is not alleging fraud or wrongdoing. We are simply asking for a full reconciliation of the figures so that all political parties and the Gambian people can have confidence that the electoral register accurately reflects the outcome of the registration exercise.
The United Democratic Party remains fully committed to peaceful democratic participation and to working constructively with the Independent Electoral Commission and all stakeholders. This is not about politics. It is about protecting the confidence of every Gambian voter in our democratic process. Our objective is not confrontation. Our objective is confidence-building.
Thank you.
H.E ANM Ousainu Darboe
UDP Secretary General & Party Leader
2026 Presidential Flag-bearer
Issued by UDP Media and Communications Team