Section 42: Election of President.

(1) A Presidential candidate shall be nominated by a political party. (2) The following provisions shall apply to an election to the office of President— a. all persons registered in Sierra Leone as voters for the purposes of election to Parliament shall be entitled to vote in the election; b. the poll shall be taken by a secret ballot on such day or days, at such time, and in such manner as may be prescribed by or under an Act of Parliament; c. a candidate for an election to the office of President shall be deemed to have been duly elected to such office where he is the only candidate nominated for the election after the close of nomination; d. where in an election to the office of President a candidate nominated for the election dies, is incapacitated or disqualified, the party which nominated him shall within seven days of such death, incapacitation or disqualification, nominate another candidate; e. no person shall be elected as President of Sierra Leone unless at the Presidential election he has polled not less than fifty-five per cent of the valid votes in his favour; and f. in default of a candidate being duly elected under paragraph (e), the two candidates with the highest number or numbers of votes shall go forward to a second election which shall be held within fourteen days of the announcement of the result of the previous election, and the candidate polling the higher number of votes cast in his favour shall be declared President. (3) A person elected to the office of President under this section shall assume that office on the day upon which he is declared elected by the Returning Officer, or upon the date that his predecessor's term of office expires, whichever is the latter. Period during which Presidential elections shall take place.