The registration of prospective voters has begun in Sierra Leone in the run-up to the country’s multi-tier elections in November 2012.

Over three million Sierra Leoneans are expected to be registered through the newly introduced bio-metric registration, according to the National Electoral Commission (NEC).

According to a statement from the office of the Minister of Information and Communications, Alhaji Ibrahim Ben Kargbo on Monday, the exercise will take place in 2,998 registration centers across the country and will last for three months.

Kargbo had presided over the launching of the voter registration exercise at the town council hall in the city of Bo and called on the people of the country’s southern region to fully participate in the voter registration exercise to render them eligible to take part in the polls.

The minister reminded Sierra Leoneans that as citizens they are entitled to exercise their franchise in electing the leaders of their choice and admonished them that this was only possible if they were fully registered for the elections with the National Electoral Commission (NEC).

Kargbo pointed out that the stability of a country depended on whether citizens are given the opportunity to take part in an election where they could vote freely without fear or favor in selecting who led them for a given period.

Commenting on the biometric registration, the minister said the system was introduced in an attempt to prevent double registration, adding that, the system has a sophisticated device that can distinguish a person from their identical twin partner when they both appear to register.

He cautioned his audience of the complexity of this year’s election as they have to vote for more than one candidate for four different positions on the same pooling day.

He underscored the need for voter registration cards which he said will also serve as a form of identifying people as Sierra Leoneans more so when they do not have any other document that could identify them.

The Support Officer, Bo Police Division, Superintendent Amadu M Turay assured citizens that the police were putting modalities in place to ensure a peaceful registration process.

Source African Press Agency

African News from NetNewsPublisher.com

How People Arrived Here:

national electoral commision sierra leone, current voter registration in sierra leone, National Electoral Commision of Sierra Leone 2012 voter registration, national electoral commission of sierra leoneregistration, NEC Sierra Leone registration results