According to some United Democratic Party (UDP) heavyweights, their petition against the December 4 presidential election was killed at the premature stage because the Supreme Court was scared of the evidence they have against President Adama Barrow and the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).
Here’s a look at some of the key voter fraud claims that the UDP wanted to use to overturn the results of the 2021 presidential elections.
Fake birth certificates
A UDP insider disclosed to What’s On-Gambia that over 19,000 foreigners living in the West Coast Region were issued fake birth certificates, which they used to secure voter’s cards.
“Some of the birth certificates have the same serial numbers. All these were submitted to the Supreme Court,” he said.
Voter registration
During the voter registration period, people were allegedly registered outside official hours. Our UDP insider revealed: “What the IEC told Gambians was that registration would stop at 5 pm each day during the registration period, but we have evidence that registration was happening in some communities between 5pm-7pm, when the observers were away.”
Alkalo attestation
Many foreigners and children of foreigners living in the country were allegedly provided with attestations, which they used to secure voter’s cards. Two of them, who were lined up to testify in court, alleged they were assisted by an NPP heavyweight (name withheld).
Our UDP insider argued: “Some might be tempted to argue why the UDP didn’t exploit the Revising Court. However, it must be appreciated that the language of Section 49 of the 1997 constitution is very clear. The Supreme Court must enquire the validity of the presidential election.”
He continued: ” You cannot determine the validity of the said election if you don’t scrutinize the whole electoral process. The electoral process compasses both the registration period and the election. So the election cannot be valid when there are substantial evidence before the Supreme Court of foreign residents voting in the election.
Participation of non-resident foreigners
Foreigners were allegedly allowed to cross the border and vote in the presidential election on December 4. Under Gambian law, an individual must be a Gambian citizen either by birth or naturalization to vote in a presidential election.