By Louise Jobe
The Basse Revising Court has ordered the removal of Bubacarr Baldeh’s name from the voter list after finding that the Alkalo attestation he used for registration was defective.
Senior Magistrate M. S. Dem delivered the judgment on 22 September 2026 in case number MSC/RC/147/2026, following an objection filed by Basorry Balisa under Section 25(3) of the Elections Act, 2025.
The objection challenged Baldeh’s eligibility to register as a voter, arguing that he was not 18 and would not reach that age by the next election, as required by Section 13(1) of the Elections Act.
Balisa told the court that he had served as a political party agent during the 2026 voter registration exercise. He said Baldeh presented an attestation from an Alkalo when he went to register.
The court said the objector admitted that his challenge was based on suspicion arising from the use of the attestation. It found that he had not provided primary evidence to contradict the age declared during registration.
The magistrate rejected the argument that the burden of proof had shifted to Baldeh to establish his age simply because he had used an Alkalo attestation.
The judgment stated that the person challenging a voter’s eligibility must first provide credible evidence to support the objection before the burden can shift to the voter to respond.
The court also referred to Section 13(2) of the Elections Act, 2025, which recognises documents including a Gambian birth certificate, passport, national identity card or an attestation issued by an Alkalo or Seyfo as acceptable for voter registration.
However, the court found that the attestation presented in this case was defective.
According to one version of the final page of the judgment, the attestation was purportedly issued by Samba Baldeh, the Alkalo of Kundam Dembato, but bore the same signature as an Independent Electoral Commission supervisor. The court said it appeared that the supervisor had signed for both himself and the Alkalo. The magistrate ruled that the document was materially defective, lacked evidential value, and was invalid.
The court therefore upheld the objection and ordered that Bubacarr Baldeh’s name be removed from the list of voters. His voter card number was recorded as 126260519104906. The parties were reminded of their right to appeal against the decision.
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