June 24, 2023 elections may take place in another date as the main opposition, All People’s Congress (APC) threatens to boycott. Another date for the elections is not yet known, but deliberations are on going. If the elections are postponed owing to the petition, it will not go beyond a month.
In a letter addressed to the ECSL (Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone), APC demanded that the voter identity cards be changed or take to the streets. The party also made it clear that they would not go into the elections with such voter ID cards. APC officials referred to the voter ID cards as sub-standard with unidentifiable features, and that the tendency for rigging remains high.
ESCL, a body responsible for conducting and supervising elections, will respond accordingly. Upon receipt of the protest letter, ECSL commissioners have been holding meetings to address the issue. ECSL Spokesperson, Christopher Jones assured APC that the issue would be addressed. “Since APC wrote the letter, the board of commissioners will reply to the party accordingly, and they will make their response public,” Jones assured.
Jones also cautioned APC members not to take to the streets until ECSL responds to them. “I will advise APC not to jump into the streets since such action has nothing to do with the elections. If they do, it is an issue for the security and they will face what they should face. Let them wait for the commissioners to dialogue on the issue that has been brought to them,” he said. The petition against the voter ID cards has raised several discussions and debates among the public.
Some members of the public are question APC “why now.” This means the APC ought to have taken such action before, and not now. A Sierra Leonean resident in the Unite States, Abdul Kabba says “this is the weakest case APC has brought to the ECSL, and nobody will listen to them.” Kabba saw APC’s action as a mere attempt to derail progress already made for the conduct of the elections.
The main opposition, he went, should have raised issues of missing names, addresses, and names found in other polling centres. To him, these issues would have been legitimate concerns for the authorities, but any other action other than such issues is a ploy to create instability in the country.
“It is a political fishing expedition to find an illegitimate point to create instability on the electoral process. They will fail,” Kabba stressed. He further argued that APC flag-bearer, Dr Samura Kamara commended the voter ID cards saying that “they are better than those printed in 2018.” Why are other APC members condemning the cards? Kabba asked.
On the other hand, other Sierra Leoneans argue that APC’s concerns are genuine and legitimate. Abu Bakarr Kanu says the potential for SLPP to rig the election remains high. Kanu stated that the black faces and unidentifiable features of the cards are solid grounds for stopping APC voters from voting. “Let us wait and see what will unfold,” Kanu told this press.
As the debates over the voter ID card continue, sources say, ECSL has been subjected to pressure by the international community to do what is right. This press is further informed that the international community too is not pleased with the condition of the voter ID cards, and they need an immediate action. Apart from the condition of the voter ID cards which is now a cause for concern, hundreds, if not thousands of voters, have not gotten their cards.
If situation remains as it is, they will not vote owing to the May 10 deadline issued by ECSL few days ago. Appeals To Extend ECSL Deadline Intensify Appeals for extension of the deadline for the collection of voter identity cards are intensifying. If May 10 deadline stands, hundreds if not thousands, may not vote in the June 24, 2023 elections. The date was set aside by the Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone (ECSL) as the deadline for the distribution of voter identity cards for those who failed to collect them last month.
ECSL premises are cramped with voters who rush in for their cards. The fear that they will not vote if they fail to get their cards remains high. ECSL headquarters at Murray Town Junction in Freetown is the most crowded. Long queues stretch from office building to the streets as voters waited ambitiously to get their cards. Outside ECSL offices, there are ensuing arguments and quarrels about whether they would get their cards yesterday which was the deadline.
One of the voters, Amadu Kamara is not sure whether he would get his card that day. “I have been here since morning without getting the voter identity card. I am not even sure if I will get it today,” Kamara told Nightwatch. He however remained patient until he got his card. Another voter, Aminata Samai appears confident that she would get her card regardless of the prevailing situation.
“I am sure that if I don’t get my card today, I will get it tomorrow or any other day,” she expressed confidence. But, signs that the distribution of voter identity cards will continue remains faint. An election official told this press that no voter identity card will be distributed after yesterday. He went on to state that ECSL will be busy with election activities implying that they have little time to deal with voter card issues.
To ensure that everyone enjoys his voting right in the coming elections, appeals have also come from other members of the public.
They appeal to ECSL to extend the date for the collection of voter identity cards. The popular notion holds that ECSL wanted to disenfranchise several voters in the North-West regions. Problems encountered today started long during the registration period. The deadline of Wednesday May 10 was issued a week ago after the normal period ended. According to the ECSL, the deadline is a redline voters should not cross since no voter card will be issued after that date.
“After May 10, 2023, no voter identity card will be issued to any voter,” an ECSL official told this press. The public however has not been properly informed about the Wednesday deadline. Not all know about it and many may miss out. By the deadline, the cards should be distributed everyday after the end distribution of the cards about a week ago.
Bitter arguments and sometimes quarrels take place between the security personnel and voters when they turn up to collect their voter identity cards. A police officer deployed at Murray Town ECSL office vented out his dissatisfaction with those who resist when told to go home and come the next day. Situation is also the same with other ECSL offices.
Voters go for their cards, but turned down. The question what will happen after May 10 remains the most frequently asked, but no answer has been provided at the moment. Observers in the media and the public have told this press that the ECSL deadline is first of its kind. All other previous elections, voter identity cards are issued close to the day of voting. It could sometimes remain a week to the election.
In the past, voter identity cards were issued sometimes a week to the polling day. Owing to the order, suspicion of disenfranchising voters especially in the North-West regions is widespread. Many Sierra Leoneans have complained that the period for the distribution of voter identity cards is just too short, and needed extension. Other challenges also came up during the normal voter distribution, and badly affected the process.
Those who went to collect their cards could not get them, and others have to wait for too long in queues. Others can also not identify their faces and other features on the cards. Challenges popping up now have not come in a day; they started long ago. Problems affecting voters started in various centres in Freetown and the provinces during the the registration period. In most centres especially in the North-West regions, those who showed up at registration were turned on the suspicion that they are below voting ages.
First-time voters were key victims. Complaints from the North-West regions indicated that first-timers were referred to the National Civil Registration Authority to crosscheck their details. It is better off in the South-East regions where voters are encouraged to come out and register as government expected more votes there.
The double standards in the treatment of voters has raised suspicion of rigging before voting. Many say those in the South-East regions are given special treatment as they have to throw their weight behind the ruling party. It is indisputable that South-East regions are strongholds of Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) while North-West are considered to be APC’s. Many are of the view that elections will be fair only if everyone is allowed to participate in the electoral process, and the voter identity card should not be an obstacle.