Gambian Runner-Up Rejects Results

Opposition presidential candidate Ousainou Darboe receives a marble to vote with as he arrives at a polling station in Serrekunda, Gambia Friday, Sept. 22, 2006. Gambians voted for president Friday, dropping a marble into a bin marked with their candidate's color, in elections that longtime President Yaya Jammeh is widely expected to win. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) (Rebecca Blackwell - AP)

BANJUL, Gambia -- The loser in Gambia's presidential election charged Sunday that the vote was "flawed" and refused to accept the results.

Ousainou Darboe, the second-place finisher, said electoral officials allowed Gambians to vote whose names were not on the voter rolls of polling stations where they voted.

Incumbent President Yahya Jammeh won Friday's election, receiving 67 percent of the vote to 27 percent for Darboe, according to official results released Saturday. A third candidate, Halifa Sallah, received 6 percent.

Darboe accused the electoral commission of "conniving with the ruling government" in a "flawed election."

"The field was not level and we will not accept the result," he told reporters.

An observer team sent by Britain and its former colonies said the vote was well-organized and "the people were able to express their will."

Jammeh seized power in a 1994 coup and has ruled Gambia for 12 years, winning elections in 1996 and 2001 that opposition groups said were rigged. International observers disputed the 1996 vote, but said the 2001 election was free and fair.

Gambia has no term limits for the presidency.