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Sierra Leone Electoral Commission declares incumbent president winner of contested election – JURIST

The Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone (ECSL) released national election results Tuesday, which showed incumbent President Julius Maada Bio won over 56 percent of the national vote. Chairman of the ECSL Mohamed Konneh announced the results to a room of people, including Bio and his supporters. The results mean that Bio obtained the minimum number of votes to avoid a runoff under Sierra Leone’s electoral system. However, opposition supporters accuse Konneh of being a partisan of Bio’s political party, Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP).Bio’s main challenger from the opposition party, All People’s Congress (APC), was Dr. Samura Kamara. Kamara took to Twitter on Tuesday to question the integrity of the election. Kamara said, “[T]hese results are not credible and I categorically reject the outcome so announced by the electoral commission.”Election observers like the Carter Center noted irregularities in the election. ECSL was unusually slow to release unofficial polling station counts over the weekend. Unofficial polling counts are often used to cross-verify final results. Jonathan Rubin, a JURIST source embedded within the opposition, claimed that APC’s internal party vote counts indicated victories in districts that were assigned to SLPP by the electoral commission.The election saw an increase in tension between Sierra Leone’s two main political parties, as well as some instances of violence. The night before the election, regional actors mediated discussions between APC and SLPP. The discussions resulted in some concessions from SLPP. These included the release of 30 political prisoners. Yet on Sunday, members of APC barricaded themselves in their Freetown offices while government forces fired live bullets and tear gas inside. Regional actors like the African Union urged peace and restraint in the aftermath of the election.