Amendments to Elections Decree Proposed The Independent (Banjul) June 8, 2001 Posted to the web June 8, 2001 Alhagie Mbye Banjul, the Gambia A bill proposing to amend Decree 78, (Elections Decree) has been presented to the National Assembly. The bill, entitled "An Act to amend the Elections Decree, 1996 and matters connected therewith" and signed by the Secretary of State for Local Government and Lands Momodou Nai Ceesay proposes to amend the Decree to bring it in line with the recent amendments to the constitution as well as accommodate the present voter registration exercise. According to the gazette, the bill when passed shall be deemed to have come into force on April 1st 2001. In the proposed amendments to the Decree, all references to district chief and village heads in Section 3 sub-section (1) have been replaced by a new section, which also takes care of Section 4 of the Decree. The new section 4 (1) reads; "the commission shall for the purpose of registration of voters and conduct of election divide The Gambia into the administrative areas specified in part 1 of schedule I or any other law, each area consisting of such number of constituencies demarcated and determined in accordance with the provision of the constitution and any other law". On Sections 8 and 9 of the Decree dealing with the powers and functions of the Independent Electoral Commission dealing with the powers and functions of the commission and the delineation of boundaries, the amendment proposes the deletion of any references to district chief and village head while Section 9 was substituted with new sub-section as follows; (a) each constituency and district shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of the constitution and any other law; (b) each ward shall be such as shall be prescribed by the commission in consultation with the appropriate Department of State by orders published in the Gazette. In Section 12 of the Decree, which deals with the qualification for registration, there has been a new paragraph which states that "a document certified by five elders that the applicant is a citizen of The Gambia or (e) a document certified by the district seyfo or an Alkalo of the district or village respectively of birth of the applicant should state that the applicant was born in the district or village". It went on to add a new sub-section that "(3) the commission shall not reject a valid document produced under subsection (2)". On application for registration on Section 17, the new sub-section suggests "(1) A person who claims to be entitled to be registered as a voter in a constituency shall, on presenting himself at a registration centre be supplied a registration form in such form as may be prescribed by the commission in conjunction with the appropriate department of state." On the issuing of voting cards on Section 21, the new Section reads; "(1) Every claimant whose name is entered in the register of voters shall be issued a voting card in such form as shall be prescribed by the commission in conjunction with the appropriate department of state: Provide that provision shall be made in a voting card prescribed under this sub-section for the insertion of the constituency in which a voter is registered". On Section 104 of the Decree, the participation of political parties in elections, a new sub-section (6) states that; "A political party shall be required to- (a) as occasion may require, declare to the commission and the public, its revenues and assets and the source of its revenue and assets; (b) publish annually, its audited accounts and to lodge a copy with the commission. (7) A political party shall not receive any contribution from any person who is not a citizen of The Gambia, or from any corporate or unincorporated body." Among the objects and reasons given for the bill were the need to harmonize the Elections Decree with the recent amendments to the constitution, citing specifically the deletion of sections 51 to 57, which it states makes it "imperative that the text be incorporated into the elections Decree to avoid a vacuum on the one hand, and on the other, to bring within the ambits of the law the present general registration exercise, including the notice of registration and the voting cards being presently issued". -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask] if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------