Sierra Leone Tests Democracy With Landmark Vote

Sierra Leone Tests Democracy With Landmark Vote

Voters in Sierra Leone waited in long lines Saturday to vote in landmark elections. The West African country is working to complete a peaceful democratic transition to a new government after years of civil war.

Heavy rains for two days threatened the voting, but lines of voters with umbrellas formed hours before the polls opened in various locations, including the capital of Freetown.

The elections are the first since U.N. peacekeepers pulled out of Sierra Leone two years ago. And it is only the second vote since the end of an 11-year civil war.

Seven candidates are running for president, including 69-year-old Vice President Solomon Berewa. The winner has to get 55 percent of the vote to avoid a runoff. Voters are also choosing 112 members of parliament from more than 570 candidates.

Complete results are to be released within 12 days.

Tens of thousands died in the civil war between 1991 and 2002. And hundreds of thousands are survivors of fighting with rebels who abducted child soldiers and hacked off limbs of civilians.

Sierra Leone is one of the poorest countries, ranking 176 out of 177 on the U.N.'s Human Development Index.

More than 2.5 million people are registered to vote - or about half of Sierra Leone's five million people.

The National Electoral Commission says it has implemented several initiatives to combat voter fraud and to reassure the public. Those include beginning vote counting immediately after the polls close, and transporting results in sealed envelopes.

ENDS

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