Freetown
Tuesday September 27, 2022
The Council of Churches in Sierra Leone Elections Observation team deployed across the country has described the first phase of the on-going voter registration as transparent, Fair and somewhat Satisfactory.
The Council of Churches in Sierra Leone (CCSL) deployed over twenty persons to observe the voter registration process in all sixteen electoral districts in the country during the first phase of the registration spanning September 3-17. The CCSL Elections Observation Report on the first phase of voter registration was informed by reports filed to the Council’s Situation Room by field observers.
“On the whole, there was a high degree of enthusiasm displayed by the populace. Large queues were seen in all the centers with people patiently waiting to be registered”, a statement from the Council’s report stated Tuesday.
“The equipment provided by the electoral commission – one laptop per center – proved highly inadequate and it only succeeded to dampen the initial enthusiasm”, the press statement said.
It furthered that, with enhanced voter education, enthusiasm was somewhat revived. The last week of the first phase of the exercise witnessed an increase in the number of people reporting to be registered.
First time voters particularly found the process challenging because the system could not accept their details presented for voter registration.
The aged and disadvantaged were accorded preferential treatment and so registered without much hindrance. The aged and disadvantaged in certain centers however found accessibility challenging, some, because of the difficult places the centers were located.
The report described voter education on the whole as good enough citing the appreciable turnout in most of the centers the observers visited.
CCSL representatives however observed that some voter education messaging were spiced with party propaganda and contained campaign elements which should be discouraged in the second phase of the voter registration.
“There were predominantly two political parties – APC and SLPP – represented in the centers. Some NGC and C4C representatives were however seen in a few centers”, the report said.
The electoral commission staff assigned with the responsibility were professional and civil in dealing with the relationship between the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone staff, party agents and observers was generally described as cordial and cooperative.
There was no report of breaches of security. However, the report notes that the interference by community stakeholders and party top hierarchy was not helpful to the quiet environment prevailing at those centers.
On the whole, CCSL Elections Observation team notes that the process was transparent and fair and somewhat satisfactory though there were few issues that needed attention in order to make the second phase much more successful than the first.
In summary, CCSL report made the following recommendations for a better second phase of the voter registration:
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