By Chernor Alimamy Kamara
The National Election Watch (NEW), a coalition of over 450 (four hundred and fifty) registered national and international civil society and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) has deployed 5,000 (five thousand) General observers nationwide to cover the multi-tier elections in Sierra Leone.
The number of observers was made known to the public at a meeting hosted by the Group at the New Brookfields Hotel on the 23rd June, 2023 in Freetown.
According to the observation group, they have observed all elections in Sierra Leone since 2002, including for the 2007, 2012 and 2018 national elections. It noted that in advance of the 24th June presidential, parliamentary and local government election, it has developed a comprehensive citizen election observation strategy that aims to provide an independent voice on the credibility and integrity of electoral processes.
It pointed to a key component of the organization’s citizen election observation strategy which is the process and Results Verification for Transparency (PRVT), an advanced and proven election monitoring methodology that will allow it to independently verify the quality of Election Day processes and the official results. The kit explained that in light of the tense political dynamics ahead of the 2023 elections, the PVRT has the potential to be an important tool for mitigating electoral violence by reducing uncertainty in the electoral environment through accurate, representative and timely analysis.
“NEW draws an experience successfully implementing PVRT methodology to observe the 2018, 2012 and 2007 election, which provided an accurate assessment of Election Day processes and results,” part of the press kit reads.
NEW went on to state in the press kit that on June 24th, the organization plans to deploy PVRT observers to a statistically representative sample of 750 (seven hundred and fifty) polling stations across Sierra Leone. It added that the PVRT observers will systematically assess the quality of opening, voting, closing, counting and tabulation processes at a national scale; independently verify the official presidential election results; and provide real-time reports from the field through Election Day.
It also stated that in May 2023, NEW deployed 34 Long-Term Observers (LTOs) in all 16 districts across the country to systematically observe the pre- and post-election environment. It went on to note that over the course of four months, LTOs will focus their observation on critical areas for electoral integrity concerns, including candidate nominations, political party campaigns, civic education initiatives, election preparations and proceedings in the electoral court.
The civil society organization further noted that critical incidents to electoral integrity will be escalated to seventeen district-level incident reporters and five national-level incident reporters, to ensure that such incidents do not adversely affect the outcome of the elections. As part of its problem solving mechanism, NEW stated in the kit that it will refer issues to relevant authorities for their intervention and it will deploy two observers to each Regional Tally Center and the National Tally Center to observe the tallying of results.
The organization noted in the press kit that its election day efforts will be coordinated from NEW’s Citizen Situation Room at the New Brookfields Hotel in Freetown and will be updating the public through regular press statements and conferences before, during and after elections. It said to have planned to issue a mid-day statement covering polling station setup and opening processes in the early afternoon and will also issue a preliminary statement on Election Day processes on Saturday. It added that once the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone (ECSL) announces official results, NEW will issue a verification statement based on PVRT findings.
The press kit quoted the Chairperson of NEW, Marcella Samba-Sesay who noted that for over 20 years, the organization has promoted the transparency, accountability and inclusiveness of electoral processes in Sierra Leone through evidence-based, impartial election observation and analysis. She noted that through NEW’s 2023 election monitoring strategy, the organization will continue the tradition of monitoring key aspects of pre-election processes, election day and the post-election period.
It also quoted NEW’s PVRT Coordinator, Mohamed Kholipha Koroma, saying that the organization’s PVRT will provide citizens with accurate and scientific data about the process and verifiable findings. He said the PVRT will enhance transparency of the process, deter manipulation and serve as an important check on the tally process, allowing NEW to verify the accuracy of official results.
The National Election Watch was established in 2002 to observe and monitor the fairness, transparency and credibility of public elections in Sierra Leone.
Copyright © 2023 Politico (23/06/23)
