By Amara Thoronka
Gambia’s Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has disclosed its calendar of activities for the National Assembly Elections at a one-day consultative forum with political parties, civil society organizations and the media on Thursday 27 January at the Sir Dawda Kairaba Conference Center, in preparation for the forthcoming National Assembly Elections scheduled for 9 April 2022.
According to the IEC, the notice of election, returning officers, polling, counting and collation centers was gazetted on 20 January.
The Commission disclosed that advertisement for election staff started running on 17 January and will continue until 30 January, encouraging qualified Gambians to apply for the advertised polling staff positions.
The issuance of nomination forms to aspiring candidates in the said election will take place in all IEC’s regional offices on 4 February.
The IEC noted that intending election observers should apply for accreditation to the Commission on 1 February, adding that the said accreditation will be issued by the IEC the following day (2 February 2022).
The Commission confirmed that it will train political parties and the police on 1 March, while training for the media will be conducted on 2 February.
Nomination of candidates for the assembly elections will be conducted at IEC’s regional offices from 5-13 March. Intended candidates are encouraged to engage the Commission on nomination issues and criteria as a way of preventing disqualification by the IEC.
Reconciliation of campaign itineraries of candidates will be done from 14 -16 March.
The IEC also disclosed that political parties and candidates contesting in the assembly elections will be supplied soft copy of the voter register from 14 -16 March.
Campaigns are scheduled to take place from 17 March to 7 April in all constituencies.
Candidates who want to withdraw their candidature has until 2 April to do so, as no withdrawal of candidature will be accepted after the said date.
Training of trainers will be observed from 18-20 March, while regional training of polling staff will take place from 1-3 April 2022.
The IEC will hold a briefing with election observers on 6 April, while the deployment of staff will be on 7 April.
The 8 April is cooling-off period as elections hold on 9 April 2022.
