Nasratu Kargbo
The additional two days awarded by the Electoral Commission Sierra Leone for voter registration in centres that were opened during the first phase commences today. The Director of Media and Communications at the ECSL Raymond George stated that the two days are compensation for the challenges faced during the first phase of the registration exercise.
“The extended period will be limited to all the one thousand eight hundred and fifteen registration centres of the first phase,” said George.
Speaking on the 6th of October 2022 at a weekly press briefing held by the Ministry of Information and Communication, the Director said that the two days registration will end tomorrow 8th of October 2022.
Explaining the reason for the added days, the Director explained that the commission had observed that there were challenges during the first phase and that some centres were not opened in the first two days. Highlighting some of the challenges faced in the first phase, George noted that setting up of equipment, use of software and deployment of staff.
He explained that ECSL will use the 5th and 6th of October for the reconfiguration and deployment of equipment and staff
He, therefore, encouraged all eligible citizens that did not register during the first two phases to make use of the extended period.
When asked about the figure of registrants, George explained that the commission will put together the numbers and invite the press to update of total registrants per district.
The Director said “Give us time to put our figures together, remember it’s a process”, explaining that there might be people who had registered twice which will be detected after they would have done their de-matching and de-duplication. He said they will give the total figures after the whole process is done.
The first phase of registration commenced on the 3rd of September and ended on the 17th of the same month, with a total of 1,856 (One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six) centres. The second phase started on 20th September and elapsed on 4th October 2022.
He informed pressmen that the president had signed the Public Elections Act of 2022, noting that it will guide all decisions regarding elections in Sierra Leone.
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