FREETOWN MONITORING PLAN FOR JULY 5 LOCAL ELECTIONS

UNCLAS FREETOWN 000315 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR AF/W, INR/AA (BGRAVES) E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM ASEC SL SUBJECT: FREETOWN MONITORING PLAN FOR JULY 5 LOCAL ELECTIONS ¶1. (SBU) Sierra Leone will hold local elections on Saturday, July 5, 2008. Post has devised a plan to monitor 8 of the 14 electoral districts on election day. Six monitoring teams comprised of one to three Direct Hire Americans accompanied by Locally Engaged Staff will travel upcountry to observe polling centers. Ten teams will observe polling centers locally in Freetown. The teams will record and communicate their observations to Embassy personnel staffing the Operations Center in the Chancery. ¶2. (SBU) Monitoring teams will visit voting centers in the following areas: Northern Province: --Bombali District: Makeni --Port Loko District: Port Loko, Masiaka, Lunsar Southern Province: --Bo District: Bo --Pujehun District: Pujehun Eastern Province: --Kenema District: Kenema --Kono District: Koidu Western Province: --Western District: Urban: Freetown --Western District: Rural: Waterloo, Hastings, Songo ¶3. (SBU) Contact Information for Embassy POCs: Embassy Operations Center: Cellular Numbers 1) 011 232 76 673 175 2) 011 232 76 663 307 Embassy Operations Center: Landlines 1) 011 232 22 515 330 2) 011 232 22 515 331 RSO (Bryan Scruggs): 011 232 76 616 619 Pol/Econ Officer (Amy LeMar): 011 232 76 616 609 PERRY