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The Chairperson of the Consortium of Progressive Political Parties (COPPP) who is also the leader of the Unity Party (UP), Madam Femi Claudius-Cole, has accused the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone (ECSL) of voter suppression In the ongoing voter registration exercise for the conduct of the forthcoming June 24, 2023, general elections.
She made this accusation after personally witnessing the rejections of several eligible voters who were denied the opportunity to register at a registration center along Regent Road, Lumley in Freetown, due to birth certificates and were not given rejection slips.
One of the people who were denied to register is believed to be a twenty-two-year-old man and the two others are said to be young women believed to be above twenty years of age. Speaking on her social media page, Madam Femi Claudius-Cole stated that the rejection of these young first-time voters to register, based on documentation, is against the laws of the country and also against the human rights of the said individuals.
According to the COPPP Chairperson, when the matter was first ported to her, she called the ECSL boss who told her that the laws of the land stated that people should have birth certificates before they could be registered.
However, according to Madam Femi Claudius- Cole, ECSL does not have the right to deny registration to potential voters as no law in the country gives them such powers, saying that it is the NCRA that should deny registration c and ask for documentation.
The COPPP Chairperson also accused the ECSL of allegedly carrying out a mission of voter suppression exercise so that the in- incumbent president will have an in-field day to rig the forthcoming e general elections.
Madam Femi C. Cole also dis- closed that most of the hundreds t of people who have been denied registration were not given rejection slips, adding that ECSL should make sure that all those who are denied registration should be given rejection slips. She expressed shock over the incidents and the many reports about the same situation coming from other parts of the country, adding that Members of Parliament must wake up and stand up to stop this illegal practice by ECSL.
