The United Democratic Party (UDP) has raised concerns over the Independent Electoral Commission’s (IEC) decision to withhold raw voter registration data until the revising courts complete their work, warning that the delay could prevent political parties from identifying and challenging irregularities before the judicial process concludes.
Lamin Manneh, the UDP’s deputy administrative secretary for external affairs, argued that withholding the information undermines transparency and limits stakeholders’ ability to scrutinise the voter register while objections can still be raised.
Speaking at the IEC’s monthly stakeholders’ forum, Mr. Manneh said the party’s longstanding position was that the electoral process must be properly organised, free, fair and transparent.
He recalled that the UDP had previously commended the Commission for its handling of the supplementary voter registration exercise and questioned why the same level of transparency could not be maintained in releasing the raw registration data.
He stressed that stakeholders needed access to the information before the revising courts reached their final decisions, particularly because those decisions cannot be appealed.
“Decisions made by the revising courts are final and cannot be appealed, and therefore stakeholders should be given the opportunity to act before the final decision is made. We are not asking for too much but for a transparent, free, and fair election,” Manneh said.
His concerns were echoed by prominent human rights activist Madi Jobarteh, executive director of the Edward Francis Small Centre for Rights and Justice, who also called for political parties and other electoral stakeholders to be given access to the raw data before the court proceedings end.
Jobarteh argued that early access would allow stakeholders to examine the register, identify possible irregularities and submit objections through the appropriate legal channels.
He questioned the rationale for withholding the information from registered political parties, asking what harm could arise from allowing them to scrutinise the data before the courts complete their work.
Responding, IEC Chairman Joseph Colley maintained that the Commission would release the relevant documents after the revising courts had concluded their proceedings.
He assured stakeholders that the IEC had nothing to conceal and remained committed to making the voter register available once the review process was complete.
The disagreement centres on when political parties should gain access to voter registration data, with the UDP and Jobarteh insisting that disclosure before the courts conclude their work is essential for effective scrutiny, while the IEC maintains that publication must wait until the judicial process is completed.
