Highlights: Senegal: final preparations before the presidential election. More than 16,000 polling stations are due to open this Sunday, March 24, throughout Senegal as well as abroad. Electoral material has already been deployed for almost a week, so the material is available at the level of the 46 departments. National and international observers are ready, with more than 2,400 of them deployed throughout Senegal to observe the election. It is an election which presents a double particularity: the outgoing president is not a candidate, and the other particularity is that the election has been postponed.

More than 16,000 polling stations are due to open this Sunday, March 24, throughout Senegal as well as abroad. This Saturday, on the eve of the presidential election, the final preparations were…

Senegal: final preparations before the presidential election

More than 16,000 polling stations are due to open this Sunday, March 24, throughout Senegal as well as abroad. This Saturday, on the eve of the presidential election, the final preparations were underway throughout the country.

A woman leaving a voting booth during the legislative elections in Dakar, July 31, 2022. © Leo Correa / AP

By: RFI Follow

In one of the schools in the commune of Bignona, in the region of Ziguinchor, in southern Senegal, materials are stored in plastic boxes, describes our special correspondent in Bignona,

Charlotte Idrac

. Mor Talla Tine, governor of the region, is making an inspection tour: “

The members of the office who will come this Sunday are verifying the completeness of the equipment. To prevent the material from being scattered, it is stored in a room guarded by the gendarmerie who must ensure the security of this voting location.

A little further in the district of Tenghory, 19 piles of bulletins are installed in a classroom – the late withdrawal of Cheikh Tidiane Dièye and Habib Sy was not taken into account by the Constitutional Council. “

Everything is ready

,” assures Marie Mendy Diedhiou, head of office number 1: “

There is the list of candidates, the ballot box

[where the election is still registered on February 25, 2024, Editor’s note]

and the minutes. We received this yesterday and checked it. Everything is complete.

According to Birame Sène, director of training and communication of the General Directorate of Elections (DGE), the postponement of the presidential election has no impact on the organization of the electoral process. “

We had made all the arrangements to be able to go towards the elections

,” explains Birame Sène into the microphone of our correspondent in Dakar,

Théa Ollivier

Even at the time of the postponement, 90% of what needed to be done in the electoral process had already been done. Which means that what was left was done practically in two weeks. The electoral material has already been deployed for almost a week, so the material is available at the level of the 46 departments, but also at the level of the diaspora.

Observers also deployed

Just like the electoral materials and polling station staff, national and international observers are ready. More than 2,400 of them were deployed throughout Senegal to observe the presidential election.

Among them, around 1,300 spread across the 14 regions of Senegal work as part of the observation mission of the Collective of Civil Society Organizations for Elections (Cosce), of which Cheikh Tidiane Cissé is the coordinator. “

On voting day, we have an observation methodology that allows us to supervise and observe all electoral operations: the opening of the office, the participation rate and the closing of the offices. We want to appreciate and evaluate the quality and transparency of the electoral process

,” explains the Cosce coordinator.

“

This observation is extremely important, because it is a citizen observation

,” declares Cheikh Tidiane Cissé

. It is an election which presents a double particularity: firstly the outgoing president is not a candidate, and the other particularity is that the election has been postponed. It occurred in a particular context, but we are very confident, because we have analyzed the electoral map. We are confident because we also believe that transparency will prevail during the electoral process.

Read alsoIn Senegal, civil society deploys 1000 observers for the presidential election

Senegal: final preparations before the presidential election

Senegal: final preparations before the presidential election

Observers also deployed

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