Memory of Election Violence decreases Voter Registration in Normodatanou Town, Gbarpolu County

Normodatanou, Gbarpolu County – In Gbarpolu Electoral District #3, there are diverse concerns over the sudden drop in the numbers of registered voters at the Normodataonou Prescient.

The prescient had 2,021 eligible registered voters in 2020, according to the National Elections Commission (NEC) 2020 Data. But during the just-ended 2023 Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) process, NEC registered 444, according to their preliminary results.

It was discovered that the reason for the decrease in registered voters was related to the election violence that took place in the area in 2020.

During that election, there was a dispute over the presence of foreigners at the polling station. Subsequently, the chief seized the ballot box, alleging that foreigners were flooding the voting center and trying to influence the outcome of the election.

The incident caused a lot of tension and violence erupted, resulting in the damage of electoral materials thus delaying the election at the prescient.

This disturbing experience left many afraid to participate in the BVR process out of fear of a repeat of the violence that occurred during the last election,  according to residents in the area.

Chief McGill Welh, the Paramount Chief,  who ordered the seizer of voting materials during the 2020 Special Senatorial Election,  said, “We talked to our people not to encourage people from Sierra Leone to come and register here,” he said, “all because we do not want confusion on Election Day  here in Normondatonou.”

Meanwhile, other residents were worried that this negative social attitude would prevent them from participating in the upcoming 2023 Elections.

Willie Taylor, one of the youths who registered in Normodatanou Town, said, “Some of our brothers and sisters that were encouraged to come home to register, chose to register to different places, they did not register here to vote during the BVR process.”

He said that some of them still have that fresh feeling of election violence and believe that one of the ways to violence-free elections is by just staying away.

For his part, the Town Chief, Blama Sheriff of Normodatanou Town, pointed out that  they are proud of the peaceful BVR process.

Chief Blama believes that most of their citizens did not go home to register because of what he described as tight security.

“And we worked with them to make sure that nobody truck or leave from their place to come and cause trouble here,” he stated.

He further said, “So our people that registered here will feel happy to participate in the decision-making process on Election Day.”

Since that election confusion happened, some NGOs and NEC continue to discourage violence before, during, and after the election this year, according to the Chairlady, Miatta Blama

She said, “So I think that the reason why some of our relatives from Sierra Leone just stay there to avoid violence tomorrow.”

Acknowledged the impact of the 2020 Election Violence Situation, the Senior Elections Magistrate in Gbarpolu said that they made efforts to reassure the locals of their safety during the elections.

Ernest McCay said that during the BVR process, security measures to prevent any form of violence were put into  place in line with the joint security and the locals.

He also said that to address this issue of taking away the fear of election violence, NEC worked with community leaders to increase awareness about the importance of voter registration and the need for everyone to participate in the electoral process.

“We continue to work with the community to increase awareness of the importance of peaceful elections and the consequences of election violence,” McCay said that they also provided training to NEC part-time field staff and security personnel on how to handle any potential conflict that may arise during the BVR process.

NEC Senior Elections Magistrate, Ernest McCay

He, however,  said that the decrease in the number of registered voters in the Normondatonou voting center can also be attributed to citizens owned positive actions.

“Some voters had moved to other areas, while others listened and acted in the interest of peace by staying wherever they came from to register here in the last election,”McCay added.

Meanwhile, Commissioner James Kulamah of Kongba District believes that the existing collaboration between stakeholders and NEC continues to enhance the electoral process and boost the electorates’ hope to participate in the decision-making process.

The Kongba District Commissioner said that this proved that with determination and hard work, any community can overcome the challenges of election violence.