GAMBIA · ELECTIONS
Key Facts
- What is happening The Gambia, a West African country, elects its president on Saturday 5 December 2026 in one round.
- Why it matters Voters ousted a 22-year ruler in 2016, and President Adama Barrow is reported to be seeking a third term.
- The numbers The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), the state body running elections, counts 1,146,474 registered voters.
- Voting day Polls run 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. local time, which is 3 a.m. to noon US Eastern.
- What to watch The IEC has not yet published the final candidate list.
- Prediction markets Polymarket, a US prediction market of real-money bets, gives President Adama Barrow 72.5% to win (7 November, 8:54 a.m. ET).
The Gambia votes for president on Saturday 5 December 2026, in one round where the candidate with the most votes wins. Voters drop marbles into candidate drums instead of marking paper ballots, and the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) runs the count.
The Gambia is a small West African country of about 2.4 million people, almost surrounded by Senegal. Its voters ended 22 years of rule by Yahya Jammeh at the polls in December 2016.
Polls run from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. local time, which is 3 a.m. to noon US Eastern. For polling hours and visitor logistics, read our guide on when polls close and what US visitors need to know about the 5 December vote.
This explainer shows how the system works, from the voter register to the count. It also covers the parties, the 2021 result and what remains unknown.
In Plain English
- —IEC The Independent Electoral Commission runs elections, keeps the voter register and clears candidates.
- —Marble voting Voters drop a marble into the drum of their chosen candidate instead of marking paper.
- —Plurality The candidate with the most votes wins, even without more than half of all votes.
- —National Assembly The Gambia’s parliament, with 58 members.
- —Collation centre The place where the IEC adds up polling station results for a constituency.
- —Revising court A panel that hears objections to names on the provisional voter list.
How The Gambia Votes With Marbles
Gambian voters do not mark paper ballots. Each voter receives a marble, also called a token, and drops it into the drum of the chosen candidate.
Every candidate has their own drum, which the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) calls a ballot drum. The voter enters the voting compartment to drop the marble.
The presiding officer, the official in charge of the polling station, listens for the sound of the marble hitting the drum. A polling officer then dips the voter’s left forefinger in indelible ink, a dye that does not wash off quickly.
Polls open at 8 a.m. and close at 5 p.m. local time. Voters already queuing at 5 p.m. may still vote.
A voter needs a Gambian voter’s card, and the name must be on the register at the station where the voter is registered. These rules come from the IEC’s How to Vote page.
Who May Vote and How the Register Works
Section 39 of the Constitution of The Gambia 1997 gives every citizen aged 18 or older the right to vote. People serving a prison term, people of unsound mind and people in a state of inebriation may not vote, the IEC says.
IEC Chairman Joseph Colley said on Monday 2 November 2026 that the register holds 1,146,474 voters. They are spread across 53 constituencies, 730 registration centres and 1,773 polling stations.
Revising courts, panels that hear objections to names on the provisional list, have finished their work. They heard 1,694 objections and removed 165 names, the IEC says.
The IEC has opened a 15-day window for replacing lost or damaged voter cards. The IEC chairman also said accreditation for local and international observers and for media is under way.
Our voter register explainer goes deeper on these numbers. It follows the checks that cleaned the list before the vote.
The Presidential System and the National Assembly
Under section 63 of the 1997 constitution, the elected President serves a five-year term. The National Assembly, the country’s parliament, can pass a no-confidence motion with two thirds of its members, and a referendum must then endorse it before the President leaves office.
As amended in 2001, according to constitutional commentary, the winner is the candidate with the most votes in one round, with no run-off. A candidate does not need more than half of all votes.
The Assembly has 58 members, of whom 53 are directly elected from 53 constituencies and 5 are nominated by the President. A legislature lasts five years.
At the last Assembly election, on 9 April 2022, the National People’s Party (NPP), President Barrow’s party, emerged as the largest party. The IEC calendar puts the next National Assembly elections on Saturday 10 April 2027.
Councillor elections for local government follow on Saturday 22 May 2027, and mayoral and chairperson elections on Saturday 26 June 2027. Our profile of who holds power in Gambia maps the people behind these offices.
The 2021 Result and the Constitutional Background
Yahya Jammeh ruled The Gambia for 22 years until he lost the vote of Thursday 1 December 2016. He left office in January 2017.
In 2016 the IEC counted 886,578 registered voters and 525,867 ballots cast, a turnout of 59%. Adama Barrow won 227,708 votes (43%), Jammeh 208,487 (40%) and Mamma Kandeh, who now leads the Gambia Democratic Congress (GDC), 89,768 (17%).
On Saturday 4 December 2021 the electorate was 962,157 and 859,567 ballots were cast, a turnout of 89.34%. Barrow, of the NPP, won 457,519 votes, or 53.23%.
Ousainou Darboe, leader of the United Democratic Party (UDP), took 238,253 votes (27.72%), and Kandeh 105,902 (12.32%). Halifa Sallah of the People’s Democratic Organisation for Independence and Socialism (PDOIS), a smaller party, won 32,435 (3.77%).
Essa Mbye Faal, a lawyer who ran as an independent, won 17,206 votes (2.00%), and Abdoulie Ebrima Jammeh of the National Unity Party, a minor party, 8,252 (0.96%). Those figures come from the IEC’s results documents for 2016 and 2021.
The National Assembly rejected a draft constitution in September 2020. It also rejected the Constitution (Promulgation) Bill 2024, a bill to bring in a new constitution, on 7 July 2025, with 35 votes for and 21 against, short of the three-quarters majority required.
The 1997 constitution therefore stays in force, and it sets no limit on the number of presidential terms. Barrow is reported to be seeking a third term.
Parties and Candidates for 5 December 2026
The IEC’s list of registered political parties names 24 parties. They include Barrow’s NPP and Darboe’s UDP.
Others include Kandeh’s GDC and the PDOIS under Suwaibou Touray. The Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC), the party of former president Yahya Jammeh, lists Fabakary Tombong Jatta as leader.
The list also names the party UNITE, led by Talib Ahmed Bensouda, the All Peoples Party (APP), led by Essa Mbye Faal, and the National Reconciliation Party (NRP), led by Hamat Bah. These are party leaders, not confirmed candidates.
The IEC published a nomination schedule for the presidential election on 30 October 2026. It is an image, so we do not list its party and candidate fields.
The IEC says filing of nomination papers runs from 3 to 14 November 2026, and its published schedule has 27 filing slots. Our report on the nomination schedule follows the timetable.
A candidate needs at least 5,000 voter signatures, with at least 200 from each of the country’s administrative areas, under section 47 of the 1997 constitution. Candidates must also pay a deposit, whose size electoral law sets.
As the 1997 text reads, the deposit is returned if the candidate wins at least 40% of valid votes. Our report on an opposition list of 66 promises shows what challengers are offering.
How Votes Are Counted and Announced
Counting starts at the polling station once voting ends. The presiding officer reads out the ballot token account and the polling time, and agents check seal numbers before any seal is broken.
Officials pour the marbles onto a sieve, filter them and arrange them on a counting tray. Each full tray is shown to agents and observers, one tray at a time.
The votes for each candidate go on the Counting Form, the official tally sheet, and the counted marbles return to their drums, which are resealed. Agents sign the close of poll report, and each candidate’s agent receives a copy of the Counting Form.
Another copy is posted at the station and taken to the collation centre. There, officials add up the results from all polling stations in the constituency.
The totals then go to the Regional Electoral Officer, an IEC official responsible for the region. The IEC’s counting page does not say who declares the final result, and the IEC has not published the date or hour of the 2026 declaration.
Observers and Agents
Each candidate may have two polling and counting agents, party representatives who watch the process. Agents check seals, sign the close of poll report and receive a copy of the Counting Form.
Accredited domestic and international observers may also attend the count, the IEC says. Its Election Observation page sets out a code of conduct for them.
The tray method lets everyone present see the same marbles at the same time. That gives agents and observers a direct view of each tally.
Accreditation of observers and media is under way, the IEC chairman said on 2 November. The guidelines on the IEC page are those for 2021.
Whether observer missions from the European Union, the African Union or the Economic Community of West African States will deploy for 2026 is not confirmed. We report no decision on this.
What Prediction Markets Say
Polymarket, a US prediction market of real-money bets, lists Adama Barrow at 72.5% and Ousainou Darboe at 21.5% (7 November, 8:54 a.m. ET). Bakary K. Badjie, a name the market lists but the IEC has not confirmed as a candidate, stands at 4.3%.
Essa Faal is at 2.1% and Talib Ahmed Bensouda at 1.1%. A price of 72.5% means traders put Barrow’s chance at close to three in four.
Only US$17,029 has traded in this market, so a few bets can move the prices. These are wagers, not polls, and they do not replace official results.
Why we show this: prediction markets turn real-money bets into a live probability that moves within minutes of the news, which is why investors, campaigns and newsrooms in the United States now follow them closely. We show them next to polls and official results, never instead of them.
What It Means for US Readers
The Gambia uses Greenwich Mean Time all year, with no daylight saving. Polls therefore run from 3 a.m. to noon US Eastern, or midnight to 9 a.m. Pacific.
Check the US State Department advisory for The Gambia before any trip. Our Gambia Explained 2026 country guide covers the wider picture for visitors and investors.
Candidates pay a deposit to the IEC, and the 1997 text sets a refund test of 40% of valid votes. We give no dalasi figure for it, because we could not confirm the amount.
The presidential result comes first, and National Assembly elections follow on Saturday 10 April 2027. Investors and visitors should watch both, because the Assembly makes the country’s laws.
What Is Not Known
The final candidate list is not known. The IEC’s Nominated Candidates page shows no 2026 candidates as of 7 November 2026.
The IEC calendar and events pages show two versions of the nomination and campaign dates, so the exact campaign end is unclear. We therefore state no end date.
The IEC has not published the date or hour of the declaration of results. It is also unknown how many independents will pass the checks.
The nomination schedule is an image, so we cannot confirm which parties and independents are on it. The Polymarket market is thin, so its prices are weak evidence.
The IEC events page shows other nomination dates than its chairman’s briefing, so we use the briefing. We also do not know whether the 1997 deposit refund rule has been amended.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is the Gambia election 2026?
The Gambia holds its presidential election on Saturday 5 December 2026. Polls run from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. local time.
How do people vote in The Gambia?
Voters drop a marble into the drum of their chosen candidate instead of marking a paper ballot. A polling officer then inks the voter’s left forefinger.
Who runs the Gambia elections?
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) runs them, led by Chairman Joseph Colley. It keeps the voter register and handles nominations and the count.
How many people can vote in the Gambia elections?
The IEC chairman said on 2 November 2026 that 1,146,474 people are registered. They vote at 1,773 polling stations.
Who is favourite to win the Gambia elections?
Polymarket, a US prediction market of real-money bets, gave President Adama Barrow 72.5% on 7 November. Those prices are bets, not polls, and the candidate list is not final.
Sources: Independent Electoral Commission of The Gambia, How to Vote; Independent Electoral Commission, nomination schedule for the presidential election of 5 December 2026, 30 October 2026; Independent Electoral Commission, events calendar, Counting Procedures, Election Observation, Nominated Candidates and list of registered political parties (October 2026); IEC Presidential Results 4th December 2021 and IEC 2016 presidential results (PDF); Constitution of the Republic of The Gambia 1997; National Assembly of The Gambia website (assembly.gm); Polymarket market data of 7 November 2026. All pages read on 7 November 2026.
Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief · Editorial standards · Report an error
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