APC Questions ECSL’s Decision
Sierra Leone’s main opposition party, the All People’s Congress (APC) has raised serious concern bordering on elections rigging ahead of the 24th June polls across the country.
APC said that they are going to be keen about tallying procedures, the disaggregated voter registration figures at polling centres, voter identity cards distribution, electoral data management protocols and the sharing of information by the Electoral Commission Sierra Leone (ECSL).
The party, in a press release, criticised the ECSL’s decision to tally votes of the Presidential Election only at regional level.
“We are very concerned by this statement, as it runs contrary to the provision of the extant electoral law, as contained in the Public Elections Act 2022,” the Party said.
They added that Section 51 of the same Act mandates that counting of valid votes be done at polling stations where they were casted, and that the result be transmitted to the District Returning Officer, who will certify and transmit it to the Regional Returning Officer for final transmission to the National Office.
The APC said it is impossible for the result to be properly counted and transmitted without the aforementioned itinerary. They said that anything other than the required process, as encapsulated in the Act, could be liable to “massive electoral malpractice”.
The main opposition also called out issues like the publication of final voter registration figures at national, regional and district level, rather than at polling centre level.
In conclusion, the party also said the ECSL acted in secrecy in the award of the contract related to the printing of voter identity cards. They said, that was not the case in 2007 and 2017, where political parties were included in the process.
