By Tabora Bojang
The IEC has expressed its readiness to conduct and supervise a free, fair and transparent presidential election tomorrow.
Director of communications Pa Makan Khan told The Standard yesterday that the electoral commission has deployed about 6,000 trained polling staff.
He said all relevant materials and equipment have been deployed to the regional offices across the country.
“So I would say that everything is in place and the election will be concluded successfully. Polling will start by 8am and close by 5pm. We urge voters to go out on time to exercise their democratic rights,” he appealed.
He said the police have given the assurance that “full security arrangements” are in place to ensure the polling is orderly and calm.
Restrictions
Mr Khan said voters must not go to polling areas wearing political materials including facemasks that bear the symbol or emblem of a political party.
The IEC also urged voters to observe Covid-19 protocols and obey volunteer health workers on the ground.
“We urge every voter to go to the polling station with a facemask. We have volunteers from the Red Cross on hand giving support in combatting the spread of Covid-19 by administering hand sanitisers and so forth,” Khan said.
Spot counting
He said the votes will be counted on spot as soon as polls close by 5pm after which IEC officials would paste a copy of the result at the polling station for the public to view.
“A copy of this result will also be given to each candidate to make sure the process is transparent. We encourage all political parties and candidates to send in their polling agents so that they can observe the activities at the stations on behalf of their political parties.
The results will be announced as soon as counting and tabulation ends. They will be tabulated at the constituency level after which it will also be tabulated at the regional level and sent to the IEC headquarters for final tabulation and announcement made as soon as practicable,” Khan said.
