'Results Arriving at NEC Tally Centre From Across the Country'
'Results Arriving at NEC Tally Centre From Across the Country'
Freetown , 12 August, 2007: "The results of Sierra Leone's Presidential and Parliamentary election are starting to arrive into the National Electoral Commission tally centre.
Results from 102 centres are at the Tally Centre; 204 more are scheduled to arrive this evening from Kambia, Tonkolili, Bo and Port Loko. NEC staff are currently entering all received results into an electronic database.
We are now receiving updates from the polling centres that were not contactable yesterday. There are no reports of any polling centres in the country failing to open, although we are told that 18 polling stations in Bafodia, Koinadugu District, did not start polling until noon yesterday. Polling was completed by 5.00 p.m., however. In centre 14063 in Kissy Mess Mess. Freetown, counting was completed by polling staff in the presence of party agents at the local police station after the police closed the centre at approximately 4.00 p.m. due to crowd disturbances.
As we mentioned in our statement last night, there were some isolated incidences in Western Urban late yesterday evening. NEC can confirm that all polling materials are now retrieved from all stations in this area.
Preparations for Paramount Chieftaincy elections for Members of Parliament are currently on course for 1 September 2007. Nominations are completed and there will be elections in Kenema, Bombali and Tonkolili Districts. The campaign period is from 17 – 30 August.
I would like to again congratulate all of us for the successful and violence-free process that we took part in together yesterday. I would encourage all of you to await the official results patiently and I want to continue to assure you that this is a transparent and credible process. We will keep you informed as soon as more official information becomes available.
The next NEC briefing will be at 5.00 p.m. Monday, 13 August.
Thank you."
Christiana Thorpe, Chairperson, National Electoral Commission
