At Stake in this Election:       

• The Office of the President of The Gambia 

Government Structure: 

• Chief of State: President Adama BARROW (since 19 January 2017) 
• Head of Government: President Adama BARROW (since 19 January 2017) 
• Assembly: The National Assembly of The Gambia is a unicameral legislature consisting of 53 directly elected seats and five which are appointed. 

Electoral System: [1]

• The President of The Gambia is elected in a single round using a first-past-the-post-system. Terms last five years, and there are no constitutional limitations on the number of times an incumbent can run for re-election.  
• The National Assembly of The Gambia is a unicameral legislature consisting of 58 members who serve five-year terms. Five seats are appointed by the president, while the remaining 53 members are directly elected within single-seat constituencies using a first-past-the-post system. 

NOTE: The Gambia employs a unique voting system in which marbles take the place of traditional paper ballots. Citizens cast their votes by dropping a marble down a tube that leads to a sealed drum of their chosen candidate. These drums are painted in party colors and are adorned with the corresponding photographs of candidates. Bells chime at the drop of each marble to inhibit any potential voter fraud. The marbles are counted and tallied once polls close. [2]

Last Election: 

• Presidential elections were last held in The Gambia on 1 December 2016.  
• Adama BARROW won the electoral contest after securing 227,708 votes, representing 43.29 percent of all ballots cast. Yayha JAMMEH, who has maintained power in The Gambia since a 1994 coup, came in second after securing 39.64 percent of votes (208,487 ballots). [3] Voter turnout was 59 percent. [4] 

Main Candidates in this Election: [5]

• Candidate: Adama BARROW 
  • Party: National People’s Party (NPP) 
• Candidate: Ousainou DARBOE 
  • Party: United Democratic Party (UDP) 
• Candidate: Essa M. FAAL 
  • Party: Independent 
• Candidate: Mama KANDEH 
  • Party: Gambia Democratic Congress (GDC) 
• Candidate: Abdoulie Ebrima JAMMEH 
  • Party: National Unity Party (NUP) 
• Candidate: Halifa SALLAH 
  • Party: People’s Democratic Organization for Independence and Socialism (PDOIS) 

Population and Registered Voters: 

• Population: 2,536,582 (December 2021 est.) [6]
• Registered Voters: 962,157 (2021) [7]

Gender Data: 

• Female Population: 1,284,248 (December 2021 est.) [8] 
• Is The Gambia a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (signed 29 July 1980) [9]
• Has The Gambia ratified CEDAW: Yes (ratified 16 April 1993) [10]
• Gender Quota: No [11]
• Female candidates in this election: 0 
• Number of Female Legislators: 5 out of 58 [12]  
• Human Development Index (HDI) Position: Rank 172 at 0.496 (2020) [13]
• Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: N/A [14]

Disability Data: 

• Is The Gambia a signatory to CRPD: No [15]
• Has The Gambia ratified CRPD: Yes (acceded on 6 July 2015) [16]
• Population with a disability: 295,156 (2021 est.) [17]

[1] https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/gambia-the/#government

[2] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-59476637

[3] https://web.archive.org/web/20161207154235/http://iec.gm/error-in-the-total-of-final-election-results/

[4] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/12/10/gambias-jammeh-rejects-result-of-presidential-election

[5] https://iec.gm/registration/2021-presidential-election-nominated-candidates/

[6] https://countrymeters.info/en/Gambia

[7] https://www.chronicle.gm/iec-final-count-is-962157-registered-voters-for-december-presidential-election/ 

[8] https://countrymeters.info/en/Gambia

[9] https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/TreatyBodyExternal/Treaty.aspx?Treaty=CEDAW&Lang=en

[10] https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/TreatyBodyExternal/Treaty.aspx?Treaty=CEDAW&Lang=en

[11] https://www.rfi.fr/en/africa/20200925-widespread-disappointment-in-gambia-after-new-constitution-voted-down

[12] https://www.ipu.org/parliament/GM

[13] http://hdr.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/GMB

[14] https://www.genderindex.org/country-profiles/

[15] https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/TreatyBodyExternal/Treaty.aspx?CountryID=176&Lang=EN

[16] https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/TreatyBodyExternal/Treaty.aspx?CountryID=176&Lang=EN

[17] http://www.electionaccess.org/en/resources/countries/gm/all/