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By Mama A. Touray

ANM Ousainou Darboe, leader of the United Democratic Party on Friday held a press briefing at his office in pipeline in which he described the independent electoral commission as the principal actor of electoral malpractice during and before voter registration.

Speaking at the press briefing , ANM Ousainou Darboe said “The principal actor of the electoral malpractice during and after the voter registration is the independent electoral commission. It was just not mere say but because we believe and that is what they do , that is a violation of the elections act particularly section 116 of the elections act , on the advice of our lawyers we know that the slightest or the most minimal act of corrupt practice in elections is to nullifies the elections”

Darboe added that following a random selection of violations identified by their legal team, the number of polling stations out of which 89 of these polling stations revealed that the Returning Officers of the said polling centers comprising a total of about 53,000 voters out of 255,150 voters registered did not have the forms certified or endorsed by the returning officers.

He added that a random selection of several malpractices identified during the registration process including the duration of registration process below three minutes timing and the registration of voters outside of the IEC stipulated dates and times that were gazette.
“We are aware that through a video evident that was being circulated, the Minister of Information and Communication was seen and heard boasting on a video prior to the elections, predicting an estimated number of votes that the incumbent will lead all other oppositions in the December 4th 2021 elections, and when the results were announced by the IEC, similar figures were actually announced vindicating the predictions that the Minister shared during the said interview”
However Darboe said another example of malpractices that “we came across included in Njau, where the IEC had initially published the number of people at the Njau polling station No. 608806. The actual breakdown of the registered voters indicated 226 male voters which according to the IEC represented 40.7% and 329 female which IEC also reflected to be 59.3%”
He continued; Two days before the opening of the Independent Electoral Commission final voters list for 2021 there were 1003 – the difference between 555 as reflected by the IEC compared to the 1003 reflected from the IEC voter registration table exposes a difference of 448 unexplained voters. This brings to question what happened to the 448 unexplained voters and where they came from.
He added that the 555 that was on the initial form should have been being reflected in the IEC voter registration list instead of the 1003. Unfortunately, the UDP did not have access to this information at the time in order to raise the malpractices to the Revising Courts.
“Another malpractice observed was that information for registration of voters in Brikama Kabafita Mosque in Farato was identified. However, there is no registration center with the said name on the IEC Team Movement document. It is therefore unclear if this registration was a legitimate one or not. Similarly, with the registration center that was established at the family compound of Hon. Musa Drammeh, Minister for Local Government and Lands” he stated.