Peace Ambassadors - The Gambia Completes First of its Kind Observation of Voter Registration

PAG president Sambou Bubacarr leads a voter registration observation press conference.

From May 29 through July 11, NDI’s local citizen observation partner--Peace Ambassadors - The Gambia (PAG)--observed the voter registration process to certify that it was conducted with integrity. PAG trained and deployed 53 observers and six regional coordinators to registration centers across the 53 constituencies of The Gambia to collect and send data about the registration process and any key incidents to PAG’s national information center. Data collection and analysis occurred over three phases (each consisting of three observation days) at the beginning, middle, and end of the registration period. PAG publicly released updates before the registration process on their observation methodology and after the conclusion of each of the three phases on their observation findings. While PAG and other civil society had observed past election days, this was the first time that any civil society observer group had observed the voter registration process in a systematic way; this was also the first time PAG had used SMS texting technology to collect data, allowing the group to report in near real-time on how the voter registration exercise was progressing. 

A PAG voter registration observer.

By bringing CSOs and key government stakeholders together to review these findings, PAG has created a platform to enable election administrators and other stakeholders to benefit from observers’ findings and explore recommendations to improve election processes ahead of the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections. PAG is also engaging citizens on their activities by encouraging the media to cover their events and by posting on their Facebook account. 

NDI will support PAG to review the voter register once it is released and to continue their dialogue with the IEC and other electoral stakeholders should any concerns arise during their review. The Institute will also continue to assist PAG to deepen its ability to conduct systematic election and electoral process observation as the group prepares to observe the first presidential elections under President Barrow.

NDI and PAG’s voter registration observation work was funded by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).

NDI is a non-profit, non-partisan, non-governmental organization that works in partnership around the world to strengthen and safeguard democratic institutions, processes, norms and values to secure a better quality of life for all. NDI envisions a world where democracy and freedom prevail, with dignity for all.