{
  "data": {
    "id": "sierra-leone-general-2028-r2",
    "country": "SL",
    "country_name": "Sierra Leone",
    "level": "national",
    "subdivision": null,
    "subdivision_name": null,
    "date": "2028-11-01",
    "date_status": "tentative",
    "kind": "runoff",
    "conditional": "Held only if no presidential candidate on 12 Oct 2028 polls at least 55% of the valid votes (Constitution s.42(2)(e)). Then the two candidates with the most votes 'go forward to a second election which shall be held within fourteen days of the announcement of the result of the previous election', and whoever polls more votes is declared President (s.42(2)(f)). The law sets no deadline for announcing the first-round result (Public Elections Act 2022 s.51(2): 'as soon as possible'), so it gives no fixed latest date. 1 Nov 2028 is an ESTIMATE: the first-round announcement assumed on day 6 (18 Oct), as in 2018 (7 Mar vote, 13 Mar announcement), plus the 14 days. If the announcement comes on day 3, as in 2023, the latest lawful date is 29 Oct. In 2018 the runoff was set for exactly 14 days after the announcement (27 Mar). The Supreme Court moved it to Sat 31 Mar after a High Court injunction (Africanews, 12 Apr 2018). A pending constitutional amendment, unsigned on 2 Oct 2026, would replace the 55% rule with 50% plus one vote. Press reports also mention a district-spread condition. A runoff would remain if those conditions were not met. Parliament has no second round.",
    "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 s.42 (constituteproject.org), Public Elections Act 2022 ss.50-54 (SierraLII scan), ECSL declaration of 27 Jun 2023 (ec.gov.sl), Africanews 12 Apr 2018, Al Jazeera 26 Jun 2023, Rio Times 21 Sep 2026",
      "licence": "CC BY 4.0 (Election Index)"
    },
    "url": "https://electionindex.org/election/sierra-leone-general-2028-r2",
    "races": [
      {
        "id": "president",
        "key": "sierra-leone-general-2028-r2/president",
        "name": "President",
        "body": "head-of-state",
        "seats": null,
        "seats_provisional": false,
        "polls_close_utc": "2028-11-01T17:00:00Z",
        "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": "2028-11-03T00:00:00Z",
          "by": "2028-11-13T23:59:59Z",
          "confidence": "precedent",
          "basis": "The National Returning Officer declares the result 'as soon as possible' (Public Elections Act 2022 s.51(2)); no statutory deadline. Precedent: the 2018 runoff of Sat 31 Mar was declared 'four days after the vote', on 4 Apr 2018, and the winner was sworn in hours later (Africanews, 12 Apr 2018). The 2023 first round was declared on day 3 (ECSL statement of 27 Jun 2023). The window opens at the start of day 2, an ESTIMATED floor. It closes at the end of day 12, three times the 2018 runoff span, because the law sets no deadline. The candidate with more votes is declared President (Constitution s.42(2)(f)). A voter may petition the Supreme Court within 7 days of the declaration (Act s.54(1)), but no court confirmation is required, so there is no court-validation stage."
        },
        "last_final": null,
        "previous": null,
        "stages": [
          {
            "stage": "election-night",
            "from": "2028-11-01T17:00:00Z",
            "by": "2028-11-04T23:59:59Z",
            "replacedAt": "2028-11-13T23:59:59Z",
            "confidence": "estimate",
            "citation": "Polls close at 17:00 local (Public Elections Act 2022 s.50(1)), 17:00 UTC; Sierra Leone keeps GMT all year. ESTIMATE from the 2023 first round, when ECSL released partial results on day 2 (Al Jazeera, 26 Jun 2023). No runoff has been held under the 2022 Act. The window closes at the end of day 3. Partial figures, not the declared result.",
            "source": null,
            "observedAt": null,
            "observedSource": null
          },
          {
            "stage": "final-result",
            "from": "2028-11-03T00:00:00Z",
            "by": "2028-11-13T23:59:59Z",
            "replacedAt": null,
            "confidence": "precedent",
            "citation": "The National Returning Officer declares the result 'as soon as possible' (Public Elections Act 2022 s.51(2)); no statutory deadline. Precedent: the 2018 runoff of Sat 31 Mar was declared 'four days after the vote', on 4 Apr 2018, and the winner was sworn in hours later (Africanews, 12 Apr 2018). The 2023 first round was declared on day 3 (ECSL statement of 27 Jun 2023). The window opens at the start of day 2, an ESTIMATED floor. It closes at the end of day 12, three times the 2018 runoff span, because the law sets no deadline. The candidate with more votes is declared President (Constitution s.42(2)(f)). A voter may petition the Supreme Court within 7 days of the declaration (Act s.54(1)), but no court confirmation is required, 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; nothing listed for 2028 on 2 Oct 2026. The last runoff was in 2018. It was run by the National Electoral Commission (NEC), the body's name before ECSL, and declared on 4 Apr 2018 under the Public Elections Act 2012.",
            "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.42(2)(e)-(f): 55% threshold; second election within fourteen days of the announcement of the first-round result. s.42(3): the President takes office on the day of the declaration or when the predecessor's term expires, whichever is later.",
            "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: s.50 (polling 07:00-17:00; s.50(3) applies Part VII to presidential voting), s.51 (count and declaration 'as soon as possible'), s.54(1) (Supreme Court petition within 7 days of the declaration).",
            "check": null
          },
          {
            "url": "https://www.africanews.com/2018/04/12/recap-2-sierra-leone-s-2018-general-elections-the-twists-and-turns/",
            "role": "see-also",
            "kind": "other",
            "kindReason": "election page without a results marker",
            "resolvable": false,
            "origin": "race",
            "note": "2018 precedent, the last runoff: High Court injunction of 24 Mar, Supreme Court extension to Sat 31 Mar 2018, declaration 'four days after the vote' and swearing-in hours later.",
            "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 (Sep 2026): 50% plus one threshold. Not signed; Supreme Court opinion 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-r2#president"
      }
    ]
  },
  "meta": {
    "dataset_version": "2026-10-02.be7d6f40",
    "built_at": "2026-10-02T15:42:24Z",
    "generated_at": "2026-10-02T18:14:55.221Z",
    "licence": "CC BY 4.0: credit \"Global Election Index (electionindex.org)\" and link to https://electionindex.org",
    "docs": "https://electionindex.org/docs"
  }
}