By Alpha Good Kamara
Ballot papers enclosed in 216 pallets, including Reconciliation Forms (RFs), arrived on Monday 19th June 2023 at the Freetown International Airport from the contracted printer in South Africa.
A total of two hundred and sixteen (216) Pallets were disembarked including 58 Pallets containing Presidential ballot papers, 100 containing Municipal ballot papers( for Mayoral and Local Council Elections), and 58 containing ballot papers for the Parliamentary Election making it a total of 216 pallets,.
Witnessing the arrival of the ballot papers were representatives of the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone (ECSL) , journalists, Party Observers, Civil Society Organization representatives and other  key stakeholders.
ECSL’s Director of Operations , Mohamed Turay, intimated journalists that each of the ballot papers have labels and different color codes for each of the elections disclosing that Blue is for the  Presidential election, Yellow is for Parliamentary election, Pink for  the Mayoral and Brown for Municipal Elections.
He added  that the maximum ballot papers in  each Pallet is 108 ballot papers further revealing that they will be conveyed in military vehicles   to the different district headquarter towns prior to the June 24th , Presidential, Parliamentary, Mayoral and Local Council elections.
Electoral Commissioner North, Abu Bakarr Koroma, on his part, said the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone is very well prepared to conduct the elections. He added how they have been delivering all the non- sensitive materials to the various districts.
According to him, they have already trained polling staff, ballots staff controllers, queue controllers and tally center staff as well as setting up tally centers in all districts.
One of the Civil Society Organization representatives, National Election Watch (NEW), Hassan Fuad Kanu, stated how the process is going on smoothly and they were even granted permission to take details and pictures of the pallets.
An inventory was taken by ECSL of the pallets of  ballot papers  with the names of the districts and quantity, he further said, adding how they are satisfied with the process and there is nothing to raise concerns about.
He further said they will continue to monitor the process until each and every pallet is dispatched to the various districts.
Mohamed Turay, the Director of Operations for ECSL, outlined their plans for the materials and  intimated journalists that each of the ballot papers have labels and different color codes for each of the elections disclosing that Blue is for the  Presidential election, Yellow is for Parliamentary election, Pink for  the Mayoral and Brown for Municipal Elections.
He added  that the maximum ballot papers in  each Pallet is 108 ballot papers going further to reveal that they will be conveyed in military vehicles   to the different district headquarter towns prior to the June 24th , Presidential, Parliamentary, Mayoral and Local Council elections.
Electoral Commissioner North, Abu Bakarr Koroma, on his part, said the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone is very well prepared to conduct the elections. He added how they have been delivering all the none sensitive materials to the various districts.
According to him, they have already trained polling staff, ballots staff controllers, queue controllers and tally center staff as well as setting up tally centers in all districts.
One of the Civil Society Organization representatives, National Election Watch (NEW), Hassan Fuad Kanu, stated how the process is going on smoothly and they were even granted permission to take details and pictures of the pallets.
An inventory was taken by ECSL of the ballot papers in all the pallets with the names of the districts and quantity, he further said, adding how they are satisfied with the process and there is nothing to raise concerns about.
He also stated how they will continue to monitor the process until each and every pallet is dispatch to their various districts.
Electoral Commissioner North, Abu Bakarr Koroma, on his part, said the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone is very well prepared to conduct the elections. He revealed that they have been delivering all the none sensitive materials to the various districts.
According to him, they have already trained polling staff, ballots staff controllers, queue controllers and tally center staff as well as setting up tally centers in all districts.
One of the Civil Society Organization representatives, National Election Watch (NEW), Hassan Fuad Kanu, stated how the process is going on smoothly and they were even granted permission to take details and pictures of the pallets.
An inventory was taken by ECSL of the ballot papers in all the pallets with the names of the districts and quantity, he further said, adding how they are satisfied with the process and there is nothing to raise concerns about.
He further said they will continue to monitor the process until each and every pallet is dispatch to the various districts.
ECSL’s Director of Operations , Mohamed Turay, intimated journalists that each of the ballot papers have labels and different color codes for each of the elections disclosing that Blue is for the  Presidential election, Yellow is for Parliamentary election, Pink for  the Mayoral and Brown for Municipal Elections.
He added  that the maximum ballot papers in  each Pallet is 108  revealing that they will be conveyed in military vehicles to the different district headquarter towns prior to the June 24th , Presidential, Parliamentary, Mayoral and Local Council elections.
Electoral Commissioner North, Abu Bakarr Koroma, on his part, said the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone is very well prepared to conduct the elections. He added how they have been delivering all the non-sensitive materials to the various districts.
According to him, they have already trained polling staff, ballots staff controllers, queue controllers and tally center staff as well as setting up tally centers in all districts.
One of the Civil Society Organization representatives, National Election Watch (NEW), Hassan Fuad Kanu, stated how the process is going on smoothly and they were even granted permission to take details and pictures of the pallets.
An inventory was taken by ECSL of the ballot papers in all the pallets with the names of the districts and quantity, he further said, adding how they are satisfied with the process and there is nothing to raise concerns about.
He further said they will continue to monitor the process until each and every pallet are dispatch to their various districts.
Turay assured that the plans for the elections are continuing without hindrance and the activities scheduled for Saturday are expected to proceed smoothly.
