Right to stand for an Elected Office
No person shall be qualified for election as President unless he—
- is a citizen of Sierra Leone;
- is a member of a political party;
- has attained the age of forty years; and
- is otherwise qualified to be elected as a Member of Parliament.
Registration of a citizen of Sierra Leone as a candidate for an elected office is a two step process. First step is to be endorsed or nominated by a political party or start a political party through PPRC. The second step is to register through ECSL for election.
Step One: NOMINATION BY POLITICAL PARTY
Step two: REGISTRATION THROUGH ECSL
All completed registration forms for party candidate– which can be downloaded below – must be delivered to the respective offices indicated in the registration forms.
- Nomination forms must be accompanied by:
- Nomination checklist
- Registration fees
- Voter Identification Card
- Nominated candidate
- Witnesses as indicated in the nomination form.
If a candidate wishes to withdraw his or her nomination form, he or she can do so by providing written notice to the chief electoral commission (CEC) no later than 12p.m. on the day the nominations process closes.
When Nominations are lodged, they will be considered provisional until approved by the CEC. The approval process may take a number of hours. The Electoral Act does not allow for any changes or replacement of candidates after the close of Nominations at 12 noon.
STEP 2A
Political Party Fill ECSL Candidate Registration Form
STEP 2B
Witnesses During Registration at ECSL
STEP 2C
Publication Of Provisional List Of Candidates
At the end of the prescribed nomination period for the Parliamentary Election, the District Returning Officer will immediately publish the Provisional List of Parliamentary candidates through Government Notice and other means that the NEC might find appropriate. The Provisional List will detail:
Full names, addresses and occupations;
Name of the political party to which the Parliamentary candidate belong;
Name, addresses and occupations of the three nominators of the political party which nominated the Parliamentary candidate.
Read the public Election Act 2022Read constitution
STEP 2C
Objections and Appeals
Any voter in the electoral area (Constituency) in question may file an objection to the nomination of a candidate. Objections must be filed in person with the Returning Officer in the District using the appropriate NEC Form, which will be available with the Returning Officer.
As soon as decisions on any appeals regarding Parliamentary nominations have been made, and in any case not later than ten (10) days before the election date, the NEC will publish the full names, addresses and occupations of the candidates and of their nominators (where appropriate, their Parties). This will be done by Government Notice, and by other appropriate means in the district and constituency.
Objection instruction
ECSL
ECSL
Is independent, credible and well-resourced body in Sierra Leone .
VOTER REGISTRATION & BOUNDARY DELIMITATION
ECSL has the constitutional mandate to register all eligible voters, demarcate constituency boundaries and make regulations for efficient execution of ECSL functions.
CONDUCTING ELECTIONS
ECSL has the constitutional mandate to conduct all public elections and referenda in Sierra Leone.