On June 24, Sierra Leoneans will go to the polls to determine the leaders who will steer their country which emerged from a bloody 10-year civil war in 2002.
Although there are 13 candidates gunning for the top job, two candidates stand out as the front-runners to lead the West African country with a population of 8.4 million.
President Julius Maada Bio, the incumbent from the Sierra Leone People's Party, is seeking re-election with a promise to accelerate the social and economic transformation of the country while improving access to public education and boosting agricultural production.
President Maada will face a strong contender in Samura Kamara, the runner-up in the last presidential election of 2018 on the platform of the All People's Congress, who promises transparency, accountability, participation and responsiveness in his administration.
The process
Alongside the presidential poll, Sierra Leone will also hold parliamentary and local council elections.
Over 3.3 million Sierra Leoneans registered to vote in the 2023 elections, an increase of 195,595 from 2018, according to the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone.
Voting will be by secret ballot system in 11,832 polling stations across the country, with the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone overseeing the exercise.
After the elections, the ballot papers will go through five stages: screening, reunification, reconciliation, sorting, and counting. After which, results will be electronically tallied at the district and regional tallying centres.
After the counting, the station’s presiding officer will announce the results for agents and observers to record.
The winning formula
These provisional results will be further tallied at the National Tallying Center (NTC).
The final results will be announced by the Chief Electoral Commissioner via traditional mass media.
A presidential candidate must secure 55 percent of the total votes cast.
If this isn’t achieved, a run-off election will be conducted between the two candidates with the highest votes, as it happened in the 2018 election.
