Civil society coalition projects election run-off in Sierra Leone

A coalition of local and international civil society organisations observing the Sierra Leone elections have projected an election run off for the presidential vote. According to the National Elections Watch (NEW) none of the candidates will secure the 55% constitutional threshold required to be declared outright winner.

NEW says it deployed over 10,000 election observers at every polling station in Sierra Leone and assigned 3 observers at the regional tallying centers.

Acknowledging the fact that only the National Electoral Commission can declare official results, the group said it used Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT) tool, which provides accurate and timely information on the conduct of an election and counting at polling stations.

NEW says PVT is a standard tool for election observation and is able to provide estimates of official results.

‘‘NEW wishes to assure the public that it has empirical evidence to support this projection,’‘ their statement read.

Read NEW Statement on projected presidential election results on #SierraLeonedecides #VoteSalone OSIWA1 NECsalone pic.twitter.com/pD0YmjJZHW— NEW Sierra Leone (@NewSierraLeone) March 8, 2018

“NEW recognises that tallying of results is ongoing across the country and therefore urges all citizens and political parties to wait patiently for NEC to announce official certified results.’‘

NEW concluded by urging political players that may feel aggrieved by the eventual outcome of the election to use the rule of law in seeking redress.

The country’s electoral commission has consistently urged Sierra Leoneans to patiently wait for official results, saying the manual tallying system that is being used will take several days to provide an accurate outcome.