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The Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone (ECSL) has announced that nominations for the upcoming 24 June general elections will begin on April 19th, 2023.
This was revealed by the Director of External Outreach, Albert Massaquoi, during an update on the commission’s activities.
According to Massaquoi, there will be two different nomination periods: one for local council candidates (April 19th – April 28th) and another for parliamentary and presidential candidates (April 30th – May 9th).
The nomination process for local council officials and parliamentary candidates will take place at the district level and will be managed by ECSL district officers. Meanwhile, the nomination process for presidential candidates will be held at the ECSL headquarters in Freetown and will be managed by the National Returning Officer, Mohamed Kenewui Konneh.
Political parties are required to submit an endorsed list of candidates for the local, parliamentary, and presidential elections by the ECSL deadline. Failure to do so will signify the party’s disinterest in the election process.
The endorsed list must be approved by the party leader, chairman, or secretary general. Independent candidates are also allowed to participate in the nomination process but must pay a non-refundable fee before appearing at the ECSL secretariat.
The nomination fee for local councilors is NLe600, while that for mayors and chairpersons is NLe1800. The nomination fee for parliamentary candidates is NLe3,600, while that for presidential candidates is NLe36,000.
Registered political parties have been trained on the online nomination application process and are expected to submit their approved lists of candidates and make financial payments to the ECSL before the start of the nomination exercise. Failure to comply with these requirements will result in disqualification. As of now, no political party has submitted an approved list of the local council and parliamentary candidates.
