The codes of conduct
Observers, parties and candidates, party agents, the media and the security forces each work under their own rules at election time. Here is what each one says, in plain words, with the source, the section or page, and a link to the text.
This is a guide, not legal advice. The text that counts is the official text: the Elections Act as published in the Gazette, and each code as the Independent Electoral Commission issued it. CRPD summarises the codes in its own words and quotes only the Act.
Five sets of rules, one election
Some of these rules are in the Elections Act, 2025 itself. Others are codes the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) issues. Tap a card to read it; the last card is CRPD’s own tracker of harmful campaign speech.
Who answers to which rules
| Who | The rules | Where they come from | What happens on a breach |
|---|
The IEC Code of Conduct for Election Observers
Every accredited observer, Gambian or international, must accept this Code. Accepting it is a condition of accreditation. CRPD's own observers train on it before polling day.
The 18 clauses, in plain words
Clause 14: observers never announce results
Only the IEC declares results. CRPD follows this clause in everything it publishes: what CRPD's observers report is about how the vote was run, such as opening, secrecy, procedures and access, and it is released only with CRPD's own statements.
The IEC's guidelines for accredited observers
For the 2021 presidential election the IEC also set out observers' rights and obligations. In short:
What the Elections Act says about observers
Observers accredited by the Commission are among the people allowed into a polling station (section 58(1)(e)), and the count at the polling station takes place in front of them (section 75(1)(a)). The Commission makes rules for accrediting observers and the media (section 150(2)(c)).
The Code on Election Campaign Ethics
The Elections Act, 2025 makes every candidate and party campaign ethically and accept the IEC's Code of Election Campaign Ethics in writing. The text of the Code that CRPD found is summarised below.
What the Act requires
The Code, in plain words
Who it binds
Duties of every political party
Duties of parties, candidates, and their agents, workers and supporters
A breach
Other commitments parties have signed
Besides the IEC's Code, parties and candidates have signed voluntary peace commitments: the Inter Party Committee's memorandum of understanding, the Janjanbureh Peace Accord of 2021, and a code of conduct the six presidential candidates signed on 11 November 2021. The Standard reported that the 2021 candidates' code had 14 points, including issue based campaigns, condemning violence and avoiding ethnic, tribal and religious politics. CRPD has not found the full text of these commitments online, so this page does not summarise them. CRPD's study of peaceful elections covers them with their sources.
The rules for candidates' agents, from the Act
Party and candidate agents watch the vote on behalf of the candidates. Their rights and duties are in the Elections Act, 2025 itself. Each line gives the section; open it to read the text.
The media rules
The Act sets the main rules for campaign airtime. The IEC adds its Elections Media Rules for each election.
What the Act says
The IEC's Elections Media Rules, in plain words
Part A: the rules for public and private media
Part B: guidelines for candidates' broadcasts
Part C: ethics for journalists
The duties of the security forces at polling stations
On polling day the security officers at a station work under the Presiding Officer, and the police assigned to the election work under the IEC. Here is what the Act says.
Sources, and what CRPD could not find
Every item on this page links to its source. Checked on 30 October 2026.
Sources
Not verified, or not found
- A Code of Election Campaign Ethics issued under section 92 of the Elections Act, 2025 for the 2026 election, and its Gazette notice. The text summarised here is the one on iec.gm, which refers to the earlier Act.
- Elections Media Rules for the 2026 presidential election. The IEC's page shows the 2016 and 2023 rules.
- A separate code of conduct for party agents, and one for security officers on election duty.
- The full texts of the Inter Party Committee's memorandum, the Janjanbureh Peace Accord and the 2021 presidential candidates' code.
- The Act number, assent date and Gazette notice of the Elections Act, 2025 (see Ask the law).
CRPD read the IEC's campaign ethics PDF and the media rules page through a web page reader, because its network could not download the files. If you hold an official copy, or you see an error, please tell CRPD through the contact form.