S. Leone biometric voter roll counts nearly 2.2m voters
The National Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone (NEC) has disclosed that over 2,196,679 voters have registered through its newly introduced biometric voter registration system, ahead of November's presidential and general elections.
These voters were registered in the first three phases of the exercise between 23 January and 24 February 2012, according to a press release signed by the NEC chairperson Dr. Christiana Thorpe, a NEC press statement said.
It said the commission deployed additional kits in some centres during phase three to help with the overcrowding.
On registration malpractices, NEC said 13 multiple registration cases were reported nation-wide and seven of them are under police investigation, six charged to court, two convicted, three awaiting court decision and one discharged as a result of insanity.
NEC said it recorded incidents of underage registrations and that the Commission investigated allegation from political parties and the media about registration of ineligible applicants, but found that Sierra Leoneans living in Liberia with valid Sierra Leonean documents were registered.
The commission said Phase Four and final phase of the biometric voter registration, which ends 25 March 2012, was currently in progress, and hoped to ensure that there will be no need to extend the process beyond 25 March.
It advised persons who have registered to keep their registration slips in order to collect their voter ID cards during the exhibition period, during which NEC will recruit about 6,000 personnel to keep all centers opened simultaneously.
The NEC noted that individuals and political parties were publicly presenting themselves in communities as prospective candidates for the November 2012 elections and warned those engaged in this practice to desist as campaign period was not yet declared.
Sierra Leone is expected to have about three million eligible voters for the 2012 elections, but NEC has reportedly made contingency arrangements to register about 3.5 million persons.
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