2006 Gambian presidential election

Presidential elections were held in the Gambia on 22 September 2006. Incumbent President Yahya Jammeh was re-elected with 67.3% of the vote. Ousainou Darboe, who finished second with 27% of the vote, rejected the official results, saying that the elections had not been free and fair and that there was widespread voter intimidation.

Electoral system

Many of the 989 polling booths used marbles, which were inserted into candidate drums instead of ballot papers due to the high illiteracy rate. The marble system is only used in Gambia, where it has been used since 1965.

Results

Candidate	Party	Votes	%
Yahya Jammeh	Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction	264,404	67.3
Ousainou Darboe	United Democratic Party	104,808	26.7
Halifa Sallah	National Alliance for Democracy and Development	23,473	6.0
Invalid/blank votes		0	–
Total		392,685	100
Registered voters/turnout		670,336	58.6
Source: Adam Carr

Further reading

• Saine, Abdoulaye (2008). "The Gambia's 2006 Presidential Election: Change or Continuity?". African Studies Review. 51 (1): 59–83. doi:10.1353/arw.0.0029. JSTOR 27667291.