Gambia Removes 165 Names From Voter Roll After 1,694 Objections

The Gambia's Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) says it removed 165 names from the provisional voter register following rulings by revising courts that considered objections ahead of the 5 December 2026 presidential election. The commission reported 1,694 objections during the review process, according to a briefing by chairman Joseph Colley on 2 November, described in an official IEC release published on 3 November.

The removals followed court decisions, not a blanket rejection of all 1,694 objections and not a finding that every affected voter committed fraud. The IEC's official account confirms the 165 removals and the objection total but its online release contains a formatting gap where the final register figures should appear. Separate contemporaneous reporting by The Alkamba Times and Foroyaa attributes a final combined electorate of 1,146,474 to Colley's briefing; that figure is attributed to the commission rather than independently audited by TFNOS.

Foroyaa reports that the courts sat from 24 August to 24 October, with removals across 38 polling stations: 75 in Kerewan, 45 in Janjanbureh, 38 in Basse, six in Brikama and one in Kanifing. It also reports Colley's statement that no appeal was filed. The commission has said parties will receive electronic copies of the master and supplementary registers under the Elections Act 2025. These are reported procedural outcomes; the available material does not establish that the overall voter register is error-free.

The IEC also said presidential candidate nominations run from 3 to 14 November and that polling-staff recruitment has concluded. Its next operational steps include reviewing polling-station suitability, accrediting observers and media, and replacing lost or damaged voter cards.

TFNOS previously reported the separate voter-card replacement window, open from 1 to 15 November: https://tfnos.org/article/gambia-opens-free-voter-card-replacement-window-before-december-presidential-vote-895a7a2bce01. This report adds the newly released court-objection and voter-roll figures rather than repeating that service notice.

The remaining accountability questions are whether the commission releases the complete revised registers and polling-station arrangements on time, how voters can correct any remaining errors, and whether subsequent appeals or official corrections change the totals. No evidence reviewed for this report establishes electoral manipulation or a judicial finding of deliberate fraud.