by Alusine Sesay

FREETOWN, March 6 (Xinhua) -- About 3 million registered voters are expected to cast their ballot on Wednesday in what observers have described as a crucial election for the West African nation.

Sixteen political parties including the ruling All People's Congress (APC) and the main opposition Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) would participate in the contest.

Director of Media and External Outreach of the National Electoral Commission (NEC), Albert Massaquoi, said the commission is all set to conduct Wednesday's election, as they have deployed ballot papers and other voting materials in most part of the country.

The security sector has also assured citizens of a watertight security for the election.

Francis Langumba Keili, Director of Planning and Inter Agency Relations of the Office of National Security (ONS), said they have activated the security to level 2 to effectively handle any security-related incidents.

Meanwhile, the National Election Watch (NEW) on Tuesday launched the Citizen's Situation Room that would be receiving real-time information from observers of the elections.

According to the Chairperson of NEW, Marcella Samba-Sesay, they have deployed 11,122 observers in all 16 electoral districts of the country, covering all polling stations and centers.

NEW is the biggest local observer mission comprising civil society organizations that observes the conduct of elections in Sierra Leone from the registration of voters to the final reading of results.