The Independent Electoral Commission has no reason to hide. And it has every reason to publish.
With the December 2026 presidential election approaching, credibility is not optional. It is the entire election. Yet weeks after the supplementary registration, Gambians still do not know who was added, where, and why. The IEC has not released the supplementary voter register. This is unacceptable.
The voter register is not the private property of IEC. It is public property. It belongs to the Gambian people. Supplementary registration by definition adds new voters to the main register. That process is most vulnerable to abuse, inflation, duplication, and cross-border manipulation. Every democracy knows this. That is why transparency is mandatory.
For the sake of accountability, IEC should release the supplementary register now, in full, polling station by polling station, name by name, available for inspection.
The Elections Act requires publication and display for scrutiny and claims and objections. A register kept in a drawer is not a register. It is a secret list.
In 2021, allegations of voter importation, underage registration and alien registration nearly burned this country. We cannot walk into December 2026 with same whispers. Release the list, let parties, media, CSOs, and citizens verify.
The Commission claims supplementary registration was clean, biometric, credible. Then prove it. Publish it. Let the numbers speak. If IEC has nothing to hide, why hide it?
Some argue security, data protection. That is excuse, not reason. Full name, polling station and voter card number have always been public during display period. No privacy is breached by following the law. What breaches trust is concealment.
We have seen what happens when voter register becomes mystery: suspicion grows, politicians weaponise doubt, young people disbelieve results before voting. That is how countries slide into post-election violence.
Gambia cannot afford that.
For accountability purposes, the IEC should immediately publish the supplementary register online and at all IEC regional offices, display at polling stations for public inspection, provide electronic copies to all registered political parties and accredited observers, hold a press conference explaining additions, deletions, transfers and duplicates cleaned.
Accountability is not an attack on IEC. Accountability is protection of IEC. A Commission that hides a voter register invites accusation. A Commission that publishes a voter register commands respect.
