{ "data": { "id": "sierra-leone-general-2028", "country": "SL", "country_name": "Sierra Leone", "level": "national", "subdivision": null, "subdivision_name": null, "date": "2028-10-12", "date_status": "tentative", "kind": "general", "conditional": null, "timezone": "Africa/Freetown", "status": "scheduled", "last_verified_at": "2026-10-02T12:00:00Z", "stale": false, "stale_reason": null, "provenance": { "from": "researcher agent 2026-10-02: Constitution of Sierra Leone 1991 ss.42-46, 49, 85, 87, 108 (constituteproject.org; ECSL-hosted 1991 text), Constitution (Amendment) Act 2001 (s.38A, s.43 proviso (c)), Public Elections Act 2022 ss.42, 50-55, 57 (SierraLII scan), ECSL declarations of 27 Jun and 1 Jul 2023 and 2022 proclamation (ec.gov.sl), ECSL Annual Reports 2023-2024 and PPLC minutes 2025-2026 (epoll.ec.gov.sl), AYV News 9 Sep 2026, Rio Times 21 Sep 2026, Africanews 2018, Al Jazeera 26 Jun 2023, Sierra Leone Telegraph 13 Jul 2023", "licence": "CC BY 4.0 (Election Index)" }, "url": "https://electionindex.org/election/sierra-leone-general-2028", "races": [ { "id": "president", "key": "sierra-leone-general-2028/president", "name": "President", "body": "head-of-state", "seats": null, "seats_provisional": false, "polls_close_utc": "2028-10-12T17:00:00Z", "authority": { "id": "sl-ecsl", "name": "Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone", "name_local": null, "role": "electoral-commission", "homepage": "https://ec.gov.sl/", "results_index": null, "open_data": null }, "status": "scheduled", "expected_stage_now": null, "observed": false, "final_observed": null, "final_expected": { "from": "2028-10-14T00:00:00Z", "by": "2028-10-24T23:59:59Z", "confidence": "precedent", "basis": "The National Returning Officer, ECSL's Chief Electoral Commissioner (Constitution s.45), tallies the results 'as soon as possible' and declares them (Public Elections Act 2022 s.51(2)). Neither the Act nor the Constitution sets a deadline. Precedents: 2023 declared Tue 27 Jun 2023, day 3 after the 24 Jun vote (ECSL statement dated 27 Jun 2023, https://ec.gov.sl/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/2023-Presidential-election-result.pdf). It covered 11,712 polling stations, 98.98%; it excluded 120 stations as unable to 'materially affect the outcome'. In 2018, under the predecessor body (NEC), the first round of 7 Mar was announced on 13 Mar, day 6 (press reports). The 31 Mar runoff was declared 'four days after the vote' (Africanews, 12 Apr 2018). The window opens at the start of day 2, an ESTIMATED floor. It closes at the end of 24 Oct 2028 (day 12), twice the slowest precedent, because the law sets no deadline. A candidate is elected only with at least 55% of valid votes (Constitution s.42(2)(e)). Otherwise the declaration names the two candidates for the second round (see sierra-leone-general-2028-r2). The winner takes office on the day of the declaration or when the predecessor's term ends, whichever is later (s.42(3); Act s.53). A voter may petition the Supreme Court within 7 days of the declaration (Act s.54(1)), but the Court does not have to confirm the result and has no decision deadline, so there is no court-validation stage." }, "last_final": null, "previous": null, "stages": [ { "stage": "election-night", "from": "2028-10-12T17:00:00Z", "by": "2028-10-15T23:59:59Z", "replacedAt": "2028-10-24T23:59:59Z", "confidence": "precedent", "citation": "Polls close at 17:00 local (Public Elections Act 2022 s.50(1); ECSL may allow a later time, and voters in line at the close may still vote, s.50(2)). Sierra Leone keeps GMT (UTC+0) all year, so the close is 17:00 UTC. Ballots are counted at each polling station and tallied at regional tally centres (s.51). Precedent from 2023 (polling Sat 24 Jun): ECSL released partial presidential results with about 60% of votes counted on Mon 26 Jun 2023, and said they 'do not represent the complete outcome' (Al Jazeera, 26 Jun 2023). That was day 2. The window closes at the end of day 3, an ESTIMATE. Partial figures, not the declared result.", "source": null, "observedAt": null, "observedSource": null }, { "stage": "final-result", "from": "2028-10-14T00:00:00Z", "by": "2028-10-24T23:59:59Z", "replacedAt": null, "confidence": "precedent", "citation": "The National Returning Officer, ECSL's Chief Electoral Commissioner (Constitution s.45), tallies the results 'as soon as possible' and declares them (Public Elections Act 2022 s.51(2)). Neither the Act nor the Constitution sets a deadline. Precedents: 2023 declared Tue 27 Jun 2023, day 3 after the 24 Jun vote (ECSL statement dated 27 Jun 2023, https://ec.gov.sl/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/2023-Presidential-election-result.pdf). It covered 11,712 polling stations, 98.98%; it excluded 120 stations as unable to 'materially affect the outcome'. In 2018, under the predecessor body (NEC), the first round of 7 Mar was announced on 13 Mar, day 6 (press reports). The 31 Mar runoff was declared 'four days after the vote' (Africanews, 12 Apr 2018). The window opens at the start of day 2, an ESTIMATED floor. It closes at the end of 24 Oct 2028 (day 12), twice the slowest precedent, because the law sets no deadline. A candidate is elected only with at least 55% of valid votes (Constitution s.42(2)(e)). Otherwise the declaration names the two candidates for the second round (see sierra-leone-general-2028-r2). The winner takes office on the day of the declaration or when the predecessor's term ends, whichever is later (s.42(3); Act s.53). A voter may petition the Supreme Court within 7 days of the declaration (Act s.54(1)), but the Court does not have to confirm the result and has no decision deadline, so there is no court-validation stage.", "source": null, "observedAt": null, "observedSource": null } ], "sources": [ { "url": "https://ec.gov.sl/declarations/", "role": "results-final", "kind": "other", "kindReason": "no election or results marker", "resolvable": false, "origin": "race", "note": "ECSL 'Campaigns, Election and Results Declarations' page, the target of the site's 'Elections Result' menu: the Commission's index of declarations. On 2 Oct 2026 it listed nothing for 2028; its newest presidential item was the 2023 declaration. 2023 equivalent: 'Statement from the Chief Electoral Commissioner ... on the Presidential Election Results held on 24th June, 2023', dated 27 Jun 2023 (https://ec.gov.sl/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/2023-Presidential-election-result.pdf). ECSL has no separate results site.", "check": null }, { "url": "https://ayvnews.com/general-election-set-for-october-12-2028/", "role": "timetable", "kind": "other", "kindReason": "election page without a results marker", "resolvable": false, "origin": "race", "note": "AYV News, 9 Sep 2026: ECSL Director of External Relations Albert Massaquoi said on AYV's Wake Up Sierra Leone that the next general elections 'will be conducted in 2028, no later than October 12'. This is a statement by an ECSL official reported in the press, not a proclamation. HOW THE DATE IS DERIVED (TENTATIVE, the latest lawful date): the Sixth Parliament first sat on Thu 13 Jul 2023, when MPs took the oath (Sierra Leone Telegraph, 13 Jul 2023; Parliament's Votes and Proceedings of 13 Jul 2023 were not readable from here). Under Constitution s.85(1), Parliament is dissolved when five years from that sitting run out, around 13 Jul 2028. Under s.87(1), the general election must come 'not later than ninety days after' the dissolution. Counting 90 days from 14 Jul 2028 gives Thu 12 Oct 2028, the date ECSL gave. Counting from 13 Jul gives 11 Oct. For the President, Bio took office on 27 Jun 2023, the day he was declared (s.42(3)), so the five-year term (s.46(1)) runs to 26 Jun 2028. Section 43(a) would put the vote in the first three months of the last four months of the term, 27 Feb-26 May 2028. But s.43 proviso (c) (2001 amendment) treats the term as extended by four months, to about 26 Oct 2028, when the date is set 'independently' of that window. The 2023 vote relied on this: 24 Jun 2023 fell after the term that began on 4 Apr 2018 had run out. In 2023, 2018 and 2012 the President and Parliament were elected on the same day, and Act s.49(2) provides for that. So 12 Oct 2028 is the latest date for the combined vote. ECSL may proclaim an earlier one, and in 2023 voting was in June. A Parliament dissolved early would also bring the date forward. No polling day has been proclaimed: ECSL's site showed no 2028 proclamation on 2 Oct 2026. For 2023, the presidential date was proclaimed on 14 Mar 2022, fifteen months ahead (https://ec.gov.sl/press-statement-on-the-proclamation-of-date-for-presidential-election-in-2023-by-the-chief-electoral-commissioner-and-chairman-national-returning-officer-of-the-electoral-commission-for-sierra-leon-4/).", "check": null }, { "url": "https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Sierra_Leone_2013", "role": "timetable", "kind": "other", "kindReason": "election page without a results marker", "resolvable": false, "origin": "race", "note": "Constitution of Sierra Leone 1991 (text as amended through 2013): s.42(2)(e) (no one is elected President without 'not less than fifty-five per cent of the valid votes'), s.42(2)(f) (otherwise a second election between the top two 'within fourteen days of the announcement of the result of the previous election'), s.42(3) (the President takes office on the day of the declaration or when the predecessor's term expires, whichever is later), s.43 (when the presidential election must take place), s.45 (the Chief Electoral Commissioner is the Returning Officer; election questions go to the Supreme Court), s.46(1) (two terms of five years), s.85 and s.87 (life of Parliament and the general election). An ECSL-hosted copy of the unamended 1991 text: https://epoll.ec.gov.sl/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/The-Constitution-of-SL-1991.pdf.", "check": null }, { "url": "https://unipsil.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/old_dnn/200113slconstitution_amend.pdf", "role": "timetable", "kind": "other", "kindReason": "election page without a results marker", "resolvable": false, "origin": "race", "note": "Constitution of Sierra Leone (Amendment) Act 2001 (No. 15 of 2001, in force 7 Feb 2002): adds proviso (c) to s.43. If, 'due to any exceptional circumstances', the election date was set outside paragraphs (a) and (b), the President's term is treated as extended by four months, as if under s.49(2). It also adds s.38A, the district block representation system.", "check": null }, { "url": "https://sierralii.gov.sl/akn/sl/act/2022/17/eng@2022-09-20", "role": "timetable", "kind": "other", "kindReason": "election page without a results marker", "resolvable": false, "origin": "race", "note": "Public Elections Act 2022 (Act No. 17 of 2022, Gazette No. 67 of 20 Sep 2022), SierraLII, scanned PDF read page by page: s.42(2) (ECSL proclaims the presidential election after consulting the President), s.50(1) ('The hours of voting in a presidential or parliamentary election shall be from 7 o'clock in the morning to 5 o'clock in the afternoon or such later time as the Electoral Commission may allow'), s.50(2) (voters in line at the close may vote), s.51 (polling-station counts are certified up through District and Regional Returning Officers to the National Returning Officer, who 'as soon as possible' tallies and declares the result), s.52 (certificate and Gazette notice), s.53 (assumption of office), s.54(1) (petition to the Supreme Court 'within 7 days after the declaration'). Later amendments were not checked.", "check": null }, { "url": "https://www.riotimesonline.com/sierra-leone-constitutional-reform-supreme-court-bio-2026/", "role": "see-also", "kind": "other", "kindReason": "election page without a results marker", "resolvable": false, "origin": "race", "note": "Rio Times, 21 Sep 2026, on a constitutional amendment bill pending. Parliament declared it passed in August 2026 after an opposition walkout. It would lower the threshold to 50% of valid votes plus one; press reports also mention at least 20% in two-thirds of districts. It would make proportional representation permanent for Parliament. The President has deferred assent until the Supreme Court gives an opinion on whether the bill was lawfully adopted, due 7 Oct 2026. Until it is signed and published, the 55% rule above stands.", "check": null }, { "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elections_in_Sierra_Leone", "role": "see-also", "kind": "other", "kindReason": "no election or results marker", "resolvable": false, "origin": "race", "note": "No English Wikipedia article for the 2028 election existed on 2 Oct 2026.", "check": null }, { "url": "https://ec.gov.sl/", "role": "authority-home", "kind": "emb_home", "kindReason": "site root: cannot answer a results question", "resolvable": false, "origin": "authority", "check": null } ], "page_activity": [], "government": null, "results": [], "live_count": null, "url": "https://electionindex.org/election/sierra-leone-general-2028#president" }, { "id": "parliament", "key": "sierra-leone-general-2028/parliament", "name": "Parliament", "body": "legislature-unicameral", "seats": 135, "seats_provisional": true, "polls_close_utc": "2028-10-12T17:00:00Z", "authority": { "id": "sl-ecsl", "name": "Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone", "name_local": null, "role": "electoral-commission", "homepage": "https://ec.gov.sl/", "results_index": null, "open_data": null }, "status": "scheduled", "expected_stage_now": null, "observed": false, "final_observed": null, "final_expected": { "from": "2028-10-14T00:00:00Z", "by": "2028-11-02T23:59:59Z", "confidence": "precedent", "basis": "Polls close at 17:00 local, 17:00 UTC (Public Elections Act 2022 s.50(1); Sierra Leone keeps GMT all year). Seats: 135 ordinary members were elected on 24 Jun 2023. With 14 Paramount Chief Members, elected separately on 20 May 2023, Parliament has 149 members (ECSL Annual Report 2023). The 135 is PROVISIONAL for 2028: the electoral system and seat allocation are not yet fixed. 2023 used district block proportional representation by presidential direction under Constitution s.38A, with an 11.9% district threshold in 2023. A national dialogue on PR or first-past-the-post was held (ECSL PPLC minutes, 27 Aug 2025). A pending constitutional amendment would make PR permanent (unsigned on 2 Oct 2026). Paramount Chief Members are elected on a separate day and are not part of this race. Precedent 2023: the National Returning Officer declared each district's seat allocation in documents dated 1 Jul 2023, day 7 after the 24 Jun vote (https://ec.gov.sl/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/RESULTS-FOR-MP-JUNE-24-2023-ELECTIONS.pdf). The window opens at the start of day 2, an ESTIMATED floor. It closes at the end of 2 Nov 2028 (day 21), three times the 2023 span, because the law sets no deadline and a change of electoral system could slow the count. No court confirms the result, so there is no court-validation stage." }, "last_final": null, "previous": null, "stages": [ { "stage": "final-result", "from": "2028-10-14T00:00:00Z", "by": "2028-11-02T23:59:59Z", "replacedAt": null, "confidence": "precedent", "citation": "Polls close at 17:00 local, 17:00 UTC (Public Elections Act 2022 s.50(1); Sierra Leone keeps GMT all year). Seats: 135 ordinary members were elected on 24 Jun 2023. With 14 Paramount Chief Members, elected separately on 20 May 2023, Parliament has 149 members (ECSL Annual Report 2023). The 135 is PROVISIONAL for 2028: the electoral system and seat allocation are not yet fixed. 2023 used district block proportional representation by presidential direction under Constitution s.38A, with an 11.9% district threshold in 2023. A national dialogue on PR or first-past-the-post was held (ECSL PPLC minutes, 27 Aug 2025). A pending constitutional amendment would make PR permanent (unsigned on 2 Oct 2026). Paramount Chief Members are elected on a separate day and are not part of this race. Precedent 2023: the National Returning Officer declared each district's seat allocation in documents dated 1 Jul 2023, day 7 after the 24 Jun vote (https://ec.gov.sl/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/RESULTS-FOR-MP-JUNE-24-2023-ELECTIONS.pdf). The window opens at the start of day 2, an ESTIMATED floor. It closes at the end of 2 Nov 2028 (day 21), three times the 2023 span, because the law sets no deadline and a change of electoral system could slow the count. No court confirms the result, so there is no court-validation stage.", "source": null, "observedAt": null, "observedSource": null } ], "sources": [ { "url": "https://ec.gov.sl/declarations/", "role": "results-final", "kind": "other", "kindReason": "no election or results marker", "resolvable": false, "origin": "race", "note": "ECSL declarations index. On 2 Oct 2026 it listed nothing for 2028. 2023 equivalents: the per-district 'Declaration of Results for Member of Parliament Election held on 24th June, 2023', dated 1 Jul 2023 (https://ec.gov.sl/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/RESULTS-FOR-MP-JUNE-24-2023-ELECTIONS.pdf), and the 'Summary of Statement of the Results of the Parliamentary Election' by district, also dated 1 Jul 2023 (https://ec.gov.sl/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/SUMMARY-OF-STATEMENT-OF-THE-PARLIAMENTARY-RESULTS-BY-DISTRICT.pdf).", "check": null }, { "url": "https://ayvnews.com/general-election-set-for-october-12-2028/", "role": "timetable", "kind": "other", "kindReason": "election page without a results marker", "resolvable": false, "origin": "race", "note": "AYV News, 9 Sep 2026: an ECSL director says the general elections will be held 'no later than October 12' 2028. Reported statement, not a proclamation.", "check": null }, { "url": "https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Sierra_Leone_2013", "role": "timetable", "kind": "other", "kindReason": "election page without a results marker", "resolvable": false, "origin": "race", "note": "Constitution 1991: s.85(1) ('Parliament shall stand dissolved at the expiration of a period of five years commencing from the date of its first sitting after a general election'), s.85(2) (extension only in a state of public emergency, six months at a time), s.87(1) (the general election 'shall be held not earlier than thirty days and not later than ninety days after any dissolution of Parliament'). s.85 and s.87 are entrenched (s.108(3)).", "check": null }, { "url": "https://unipsil.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/old_dnn/200113slconstitution_amend.pdf", "role": "timetable", "kind": "other", "kindReason": "election page without a results marker", "resolvable": false, "origin": "race", "note": "Constitution (Amendment) Act 2001, s.38A: if constituencies have not been set up for a general election, the President, after consulting ECSL, may order a district block (party-list proportional) election; ECSL allocates each district's seats by party vote share. The 2023 election used this system after a presidential proclamation (ECSL Annual Report 2024, p. 27).", "check": null }, { "url": "https://sierralii.gov.sl/akn/sl/act/2022/17/eng@2022-09-20", "role": "timetable", "kind": "other", "kindReason": "election page without a results marker", "resolvable": false, "origin": "race", "note": "Public Elections Act 2022 (Act No. 17 of 2022): s.50(1) (polling 07:00-17:00 for presidential and parliamentary elections), s.55 (Parliament: Paramount Chief Members, one per provincial district, plus the members Parliament prescribes), s.57 (parliamentary nominations), s.91-93 (district returning officers' counts, certificates, publication).", "check": null }, { "url": "https://www.riotimesonline.com/sierra-leone-constitutional-reform-supreme-court-bio-2026/", "role": "see-also", "kind": "other", "kindReason": "election page without a results marker", "resolvable": false, "origin": "race", "note": "Pending constitutional amendment bill (Sep 2026) that would make proportional representation permanent for parliamentary elections. It is not signed; a Supreme Court opinion is due 7 Oct 2026.", "check": null }, { "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elections_in_Sierra_Leone", "role": "see-also", "kind": "other", "kindReason": "no election or results marker", "resolvable": false, "origin": "race", "check": null }, { "url": "https://ec.gov.sl/", "role": "authority-home", "kind": "emb_home", "kindReason": "site root: cannot answer a results question", "resolvable": false, "origin": "authority", "check": null } ], "page_activity": [], "government": null, "results": [], "live_count": null, "url": "https://electionindex.org/election/sierra-leone-general-2028#parliament" } ] }, "meta": { "dataset_version": "2026-10-02.be7d6f40", "built_at": "2026-10-02T15:42:24Z", "generated_at": "2026-10-02T18:14:03.338Z", "licence": "CC BY 4.0: credit \"Global Election Index (electionindex.org)\" and link to https://electionindex.org", "docs": "https://electionindex.org/docs" } }