Global Initiative to Enfranchise People with Disabilities: The Gambia - www.electionaccess.org Text Only Version
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The Gambia

General Right to Vote
Constitution:
(1996: Second Draft)
• Section 26 states "Every citizen of The Gambia of full age and capacity shall have the right, without unreasonable restrictions…(b) to vote and stand for elections at genuine periodic elections for public office, which elections shall be by universal and equal suffrage and be held by secret ballot."

Specific Inclusion of People with Disabilities
Constitution:
(1996: Second Draft)
• Section 31 states: "(1) The right of the disabled and handicapped to respect and human dignity shall be recognized by the State and society. (2) Disabled persons shall be entitled to protection against exploitation and to protection against discrimination, in particular as regards access to health services, education and employment. (3) In any judicial proceedings in which a disabled person is a party, the procedure shall take his or her condition into account."

Exclusion Based on Mental Disability
Constitution:
(1996: Second Draft)
• Section 39 subsection (1) states: "Every citizen of The Gambia being of eighteen years or older and of sound mind shall have the right to vote for the purpose of elections of a President and members of the National Assembly, and shall be entitled to be registered as a voter in a National Assembly constituency for that purpose."
• Section 39 subsection (3) continues: "Every citizen of The Gambia being of eighteen years or older and of sound mind shall be entitled, in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter and any Act of the National Assembly providing for local government authorities and traditional rulers in the area in which he or she is ordinarily resident."
Electoral Law:
(1996: Elections Decree 1996, No. 78)
• Section 13 states "No person shall be entitled to have his name entered or retained on a register of voters if he is…(c) a person adjudged to be of unsound mind or detained as a criminal lunatic under any law."

Voter Assistance by Other Citizens
Electoral Law:
(1996: Elections Decree 1996, No. 78)
• Section 17 subsection (3) states, "Where a claimant is incapacitated from affixing his signature or thumbprint on a form of claim, the election officer conducting the registration shall note such circumstances in the register of voters."
• Section 66 subsection (10) states "Where a voter is incapacitated by blindness or other physical cause from recording his vote without assistance, the Presiding Officer or other election officer may accompany such voter into the screened compartment to assist him to record his vote."


 
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