Turnout low in Gambian councilorship elections

Turnout has been low in Gambia’s councilorship elections on Thursday, authorities said.

“The turnout is very poor,” a presiding officer in one of the polling stations in Kanifing municipality, Kebba Njie, told Xinhua.

“At around 11 a.m., we found out that it was less than 200 voters. After one hour… it was around 300 voters,” He said. “The turnout is below 50 percent.”

Njie said youth didn’t turn up impressively while women that came were mainly above 40 years.

“If you are to compare this election with the national assembly election, this (turnout) is poorer,” he said.

The Independent Electoral Council last month approved 409 candidates vying for 120 wards across the country.

Gambia has 886,578 total registered voters with 1,422 polling stations across the country, according the electoral body. Enditem