In Guinea, the polling stations for the presidential election were to close on Sunday, October 18 at 18 local time. Outgoing President Alpha Condé, 82, is seeking a third term following the controversial adoption of a new constitution. In all, nearly 5.5 million voters were called to the polls to choose from among the twelve candidates.
In a polling station in the Coléah, in the inner suburbs of Conakry, the counting began after the official end of the voting at. 18 local time, notes our correspondent in Guinea’s capital, Carol Valade. The seals on the ballot paper are broken. The ballot papers will now be taken out one by one, a line written in chalk on the big board opposite the name of the corresponding party. The ballot paper is then sent for centralization.
From the receipt of the last minutes of the country, Ceni, the Electoral Commission, will have 72 hours to proclaim the preliminary results. The flashlights were taken out as the count is expected to continue well into the evening. In any case, no major incident has been reported in Conakry. Security Minister Albert Damantang Camara confirmed this in the middle of the afternoon.
President Alpha Condé and his main opponent, Celou Dalein Diallo, called for calm after the vote. In most neighborhoods, the streets were invaded in the late afternoon by football games, just like every Sunday. The only fear now is that the opposition will proclaim its own results despite the government ban.
A calm vote
In Kankan, the stronghold of the Guinean head of state, Alpha Condé, the census also began about a quarter of an hour after the official closure of the polling stations of the primary school in the Bordo district, reports our special correspondent on the spot. , Bineta Diagne.
The president of the polling station opened the ballot, which was sealed, under the attentive eyes of the members of his office. Around him were six representatives of political parties, all of whom had a sheet and were ready to record in detail the counting of the votes of this office. The process is very slow. Voting officers count the envelopes to make sure they have the right number of voters, all with a flashlight.
Incidentally, no major incident was reported in Kankan by observers. Nearly 600 members of civil society are scattered across Upper Guinea. In addition, there are 12 observers from ECOWAS, the economic community of West African states. They are all unanimous on one point: the voters voted calmly.
When the count is complete, all eyes will be on the municipal election commission, which is responsible for centralizing the reports from all polling stations in the municipality of Kankan.
The only downside: PADES [Parti des démocrates pour l’espoir], the party of candidate Ousmane Kaba, this morning condemned some irregularities. In particular, there are fictitious polling stations in a district of Kankan. This information was rejected by Mohamed Lamine Traoré, President of the CECI (Independent Communal Electoral Commission) in Kankan. The latter requires calm at a crucial moment in the electoral process.
Missing minutes
In Labé, Central Guinea, the census also began at the primary school in the Tata-1 district, reports our on-site special correspondent, Charlotte idrac. Residents gathered in the yard in the fading evening light to await the posting of the minutes.
The President of the Prefectural Electoral Commission speaks of a good climate for this voting day. The same goes for Guinea’s Organization for Human Rights (OGDH), which welcomes “voter enthusiasm and serenity”. In the polls, on October 18, voters were actually present. They were very numerous this morning at the opening of the polling stations around noon. 7, and attendance then dropped as the day went on.
The vote therefore took place peacefully. However, there is a problem to note in the Daka-1 district: in a polling station this morning, the president realized that the envelope promised by the election commission did not contain minutes, the only document approved to record the results.
The question arises what will happen to these votes, knowing that this office has 556 registered voters. For his part, the president of the election commission explains that there is only one report per. Polling station, not a little more. It can therefore not be replaced. Discussions are underway to try to find a solution.
For its part RPG[Rassemblement du peuple de Guinée] Rainbow by outgoing President Alpha Condé claims that some of his delegates were prevented from accessing polling stations in Labé. Electoral officials explained that only one representative per. Party was accepted at each station. So they asked the other delegates to leave.
(More information to come)
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