Elections in Sierra Leone: November 17 Presidential, Parliamentary and Local Elections

The November 17 elections in Sierra Leone will be the first since the end of the civil war in 2002 that the National Electoral Commission has taken a primary role in organizing and executing. The country’s first biometric voter registration initiative, which took place earlier in the year as part of an effort to reduce fraudulent voter registrations, resulted in the development of a voter list of 2.7 million eligible voters. These voters will decide on contests for local government and parliamentary seats as well as a presidential election that will see the incumbent President Ernest Bai Korona of the All People’s Congress (APC) contend for re-election against eight other candidates, including the leading opposition party candidate Julius Maada Bio of the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP).

To help observers better understand the backdrop of these elections, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) has put together a series of frequently asked questions (FAQs). Among the topics explored in Elections in Sierra Leone: November 17 Presidential, Parliamentary and Local Elections are: