Good afternoon all and thank you for coming to this press briefing.
On behalf of my Colleague Commissioners and staff, I wish to give you the following updates on the voter registration process.
You may recall that last week on 14th September the Commission published a Public Notice indicating our commitment to end the first phase of the voter registration exercise on 17 September 2022 and begin the second phase on the 20thSeptember to 4th October 2022.
The Commission is pleased to announce that the first phase ended as scheduled successfully, and the data is being processed.
Currently, our field staff are on deployment right across the country to begin the second phase of voter registration tomorrow 20 September 2022 at 7am.
The Public should note that 1,815 centers will open for all eligible Sierra Leoneans of voting age and those who will be 18 years old on 24 June 2023 (polling day) to present themselves and update their details.
Furthermore, citizens should be reminded that centers will open right across the country in all 446 wards in every constituency and district. This is an opportunity for eligible citizens who could not make it in the first phase to find the nearest center in your community.
Documents required for registration are a valid Sierra Leonean passport, previous Voter ID card, a National ID card, certificate of registration from NCRA, or valid Sierra Leonean birth certificate.
At the same time, we warn all those who intend to do or encourage double or underage registration not to attempt because they would be caught and prosecuted. The Commission reminds citizens that it is a crime punishable by law and has the means to identify culprits and such persons will be prosecuted.
In the first phase we had challenges which we shared with stakeholders; the Commission is grateful for the teamwork of all our staff and observers, and I am pleased that we have met those challenges. We look forward to more positive engagements with stakeholders and other partners including Political Parties.
The ECSL Situation Room has been active receiving calls from all over the country and will continue to provide that service throughout this registration period. The public is reminded that the contact number remain the same: 838 on Africell, Qcell, and Orange on toll free access.
All other action points such as charging of the equipment (VVK, VIU, SOLAR BATTERY), first time voters have been addressed. We have put in place generator hire scheme, bike hire, and we have updated the VVK to capture all first-time voters who will be 18 years old on 24 June 2023.
On behalf of Colleague Commissioners and Staff, I will now give you a summary of the provisional data collected based on 80% of Centres reported for Phase one.
| PROVISIONAL FIRST PHASE REGISTRATION DATA BASED ON REPORT FROM 80% OF CENTRES | ||
| NO | REGION | TOTAL |
| 1 | Eastern Region | 269,110 |
| 2 | Northern Region | 241,827 |
| 3 | North West Region | 188,048 |
| 4 | Southern Region | 295,759 |
| 5 | Western Area | 350,432 |
| NATIONAL TOTAL | 1,345,176 | |
END: 19 September 2022
