By Politico Staff writer
The Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone (ECSL) is set to begin the Boundary Delimitation and Demarcation of Constituencies and Wards in the country.
ECSL, in a press release dated 2nd August 2022 also confirmed that it is setting up a Boundary Delimitation Technical Committee on clearly defined Terms of Reference.
The commission says it will be collaborating with Statistics Sierra Leone for technical and operational assistance in providing Population Statistics Data and expertise, to draw electoral constituencies and ward boundaries, using Geographic Information Systems technology.
It is presently conducting a series of nationwide public consultations and engagements as part of the constituency and ward boundary delimitation activities.
The commission says it will have to submit the constituency and ward boundary delimitation report to Parliament for approval, a policy that is enshrined in the 1991 Constitution of Sierra Leone.
After Parliament would have completed approving the report, ECSL will immediately embark on a nationwide awareness-raising campaign on the allocation of parliamentary seats and description of the mathematical size and demarcation of the constituencies and wards in the sixteen (16) electoral districts of the country.
Stakeholders were assured of further updates on the timeliness of activities relating to the Boundary delimitation in due course.
ECSL is the sole authority with the constitutional mandate to prepare and conduct all public elections and referenda.
It says its mandate to conduct the boundary delimitation exercise was provided for in the Constitution of Sierra Leone as contained in the Public Elections and Local Government Acts.
ECSL Chief Mohamed Konneh two weeks ago presented their 2021 annual report which also contained the 2023 Elections Preparedness Timetable, to President Julius Maada Bio at State House in Freetown.
Registration of eligible voters is to commence next month in centres across the country. Presentation of the disputed National Identification Number (NIN) on the National Identity Card that was earlier suggested for inclusion in the criteria for those registering for the voter ID card has been dropped.
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