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Sierra Leone: Citizens await election result – incumbent confident of victory
She, however, noted that polling was disrupted by a swarm of honey bees in ward 135 in the Kambia District.
“The polling station was automatically relocated and polling went on peacefully,” she said.
There also was a report of one polling station where voters who presented ID cards were allowed to vote though they ultimately were not on the voter registry, Howitt said. The ballot boxes in question were under quarantine pending an investigation, he added.
The U.S.-based Carter Center also said Monday that Sierra Leone’s vote had been “peaceful, orderly and transparent.” Some polled opened late and in some cases there were shortages of election materials, the observers noted.
“These shortfalls were generally addressed by midday and they did not undermine the fundamental integrity of the electoral process,” said former Zambian President Rupiah Banda who is with the Carter Center delegation.
The observer mission from the West African regional bloc ECOWAS also noted a few isolated incidents, including the absence of back-up lighting which required party agents to improvise with cellphones and flashlights to enable counting in the dark.
Sierra Leone’s presidential race has hinged on which candidate can best uplift this West African country trying to shed its past after a brutal 1991-2002 civil war.
