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                        Sierra Leone Ready for Elections

   by VOA News

   Voters in Sierra Leone go to the polls Saturday to elect a new
   president and parliament.

   Incumbent President Ernest Bai Koroma faces eight challengers,
   including main opposition candidate Julius Maada Bio.

   ''Ahead of the polls, political party officials pledged to urge
   supporters to refrain from violence that marred the 2007 elections.
   Gregory Houel, who leads election observers from the U.S.-based Carter
   Center, said the pledge appears to be working.

   "We can say with a certain amount of confidence that the campaign
   period has been much more peaceful across the country, with fewer
   incidents of violence, fewer clashes between the ruling APC party and
   the opposition, mainly the SLPP," he said.

   Sierra Leone's electoral commission says it has taken steps to ensure
   the polls are credible, including training of staff. Commission
   spokesman Albert Massaquoi said results will be more announced quickly
   than in the past.

   "These results at local levels, at constituent levels, and at district
   levels would be announced no sooner than [when] polls are closed," said
   Massaquoi. "So, in a couple of days we would expect to have all the
   results finalized and announced, which would be the final results."

   President Koroma won the last presidential poll in 2007 in a run-off
   vote. His APC party currently holds the most seats of any party in
   parliament.

   These are the third national elections since the end of Sierra Leone's
   decade-long civil war in 200
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   al-elections-saturday/1547403.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/sierra-leone-parliamentary-presidential-elections-saturday/1547403.html