Sierra Leone Vote Heads to Run-Off Between Two Main Parties

(Bloomberg) -- Presidential elections in Sierra Leone will probably go to a second round as the two main political parties remain neck-and-neck with three-quarters of the votes counted.

The count of 75 percent of the ballots showed that the ruling All People’s Congress got 833,519 votes, while the main opposition Sierra Leone People’s Party obtained 848,438 votes, according to the National Electoral Commission late Saturday. The National Grand Coalition, a newcomer that may influence the final outcome if the election goes to a run-off, lagged with about 136,009 votes.

The APC and the SLPP have dominated Sierra Leone politics since independence from Britain in 1961. The West African nation’s economy is recovering from a slump in iron-ore prices and the worst-ever Ebola outbreak that killed thousands of people and isolated the country.

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.