ECOWAS welcomes the smooth running of the poll

After the legislative elections of November 17, ECOWAS via a press release welcomed the smooth running of the vote throughout the country. After some observations made in the centers and offices, ECOWAS concludes this:

“The joint mission commends the high sense of patriotism and peaceful behavior demonstrated by stakeholders and voters throughout the process.

The mission also notes that the voting process generally took place smoothly and in a largely peaceful atmosphere. Voters were able to exercise their right to vote without hindrance even if some polling stations (20.52) were not easily accessible to people with reduced mobility and people living with disabilities.

The Mission congratulates the authorities and election management bodies for the efficiency of their conduct and coordination, which enabled the smooth running of voting operations on polling day.

The Mission also congratulates the political actors for the fair play they showed after the close of the poll by congratulating the party that came first even before the official announcement of the results.

While welcoming the peaceful conduct of the legislative elections, the Mission wishes to reiterate the following points to the attention of the competent authorities in order to consolidate its democratic credentials, particularly with regard to the management of elections in the country.

The need to provide adequate facilities to allow people with reduced mobility unhindered access to polling stations to ensure inclusion in the electoral process.

It is necessary for the authorities to adopt a single ballot paper that could contain all candidates and/or symbols of parties and coalitions in order to reduce the use of multiple ballot papers and the possible reduction of costs associated with the purchase and printing of electoral materials.

The mission will continue to closely observe the final phases of the process, in particular the aggregation, consolidation, announcement and validation of the results by the competent authorities.

The joint mission would finally like to thank President HE Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye, the government and the Senegalese people for the warm welcome and the excellent facilities made available to him for the success of his mission,” wrote Ambassador Francis Alex TSEGAH , head of the ECOWAS-AU joint electoral observation mission.