[1] The result was a victory for incumbent President Adama Barrow of the National People's Party, who received 53% of the vote, defeating five other candidates.

The drums are placed in the booth concealed from the officials to preserve ballot secrecy; the insertion of a marble rings a bell inside to signal that the vote has been cast.

Barrow had been a member of the United Democratic Party (UDP) and ran in 2016 as the presidential candidate of Coalition 2016, a collection of opposition groups seeking to unseat Jammeh.

[7] In July 2018, the government began drafting a new constitution whose features would ensure a genuine separation of powers, limiting the presidency to a five-year term, renewable once, and introducing two-round voting instead of one.

As the Coalition's immediate objective was to defeat Jammeh, its founding charter stipulated that Barrow would lead a provisional government, then withdraw to allow for an early presidential election where all opposition candidates except himself could have presented themselves under fully free and democratic conditions.

[15][16] Barrow received criticism from opposing parties and civil society for extending the stay of ECOMIG forces in Gambia as late as 2021.

[17] A 2021 survey conducted by CepRass for Afrobarometer showed 78% support for ending the mission and letting the national Armed Forces and Police take charge.

[19] From twenty-one nominees,[20] six candidates were approved to run by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC):[21][22] For the first time, opinion polls were conducted prior to the election.

[33] The economy was a concern for voters, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the dominant tourism industry[34] as well as the falling exchange rate of the Gambian dalasi.

[36][37] Barrow's NPP announced a coalition with the party of former president Yahya Jammeh, the Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Reconstruction (APRC).

[42] Gambia Participates, a nonpartisan NGO, offers a free mobile app called Marble for tracking live election results from the IEC.

[43] To promote voter engagement, staff members of the National Council for Civic Education (NCCE) toured the country and held public forums.

[47] Leading the Commonwealth observer group, Olusegun Obasanjo praised the marble voting system and the orderly conduct of the elections.

[48] Ernest Bai Koroma, head of the ECOWAS observer group, asked parties "to accept the outcome of the election in good faith.