By Abdul Karim Gogra
The Electoral Commission Sierra Leone (ECSL) has committed to address issues identified in the just concluded voter exhibition exercise before the finalization and printing of the final list of voters.
The Director of Media and Communication, ECSL, Raymond George told a regular news conference at the Ministry of Information and Communications that, the Commission acknowledged the concerns from registered voters relating to omission of names from the list of voters, photo-less registration details, and incomplete data in some centres.
George said that out of 531, 751 new registrants, there were 50,000 photo-less registrants. He also said that 75 cases came up for rejection. “Out of the 75 cases, four were upheld [included], and 71 dismissed. All these cases were from Western Area: one from Western rural, and the remainder from Western Area urban,” he said.
He further said that the exhibition had been set for voters to confirm their details, make objections on the ground of where names had been omitted, and informed that about 50 faulty VIU kits with global App error were being fixed with support from the National Civil Registration Authority (NCRA). He said the Commission had sent Information Technology teams to re-extract the incomplete data. “They have now been fully extracted,” he said.
“We have retrieved them. We can now talk about complete data from across the country,” he said. He furthered that for those whose photos missing, the Commission is working closely with the NCRA to ensure that those photoless cases are being adjusted,” he said.
George said that in instances where a person had been rejected during the data capturing process, one could appeal, bringing along the required documents to the revising officer and that person’s name would be reinstated in the provisional list.
He said that if the person’s case had been is dismissed, it means there were no grounds for their names to be included in the register. He said that when a person feels aggrieved, he /she could come to the Commission or take the case to High Court of Sierra Leone.
The Director of Operations, ECSL, Mohamed Turay, said the will launch three platforms – web portal, mobile app, SMS/USSD services – to enable online confirmation of registrants’ data. He also said that the 838-toll free line remains open for queries, concerns, and questions.