The tally is being disputed by the opposition party, which accused the election commission of lack of transparency. Bio is running for a second term against 12 opponents, including his biggest rival Samura Kamara.
Sierra Leone's President Julius Maada Bio is leading the presidential election count, said the electoral commission on Monday after 60% of the votes had been tallied.
The incumbent president had gathered 55.86% of the ballots cast which is more than the 55% required for victory.
His biggest rival, Samura Kamara from the All People's Congress (APC), had gathered 41.53% of the votes.
Bio is running for his second term against 12 opponents. Kamara narrowly lost to Bio in the last election in 2018.
A tense election
The tally has already been disputed by the APC which denounced "such cooked-up figures" in a statement on Monday.
At a press conference EU observers also said that they felt that a lack of transparency and communication by the electoral authority led to mistrust in the process.
The APC said that election representatives were attacked and intimidated in three districts on June 24, the election day.
The election commission on Sunday said that several officials had been beaten in different parts of the country.
A woman was found dead at the party headquarters on Sunday after police surrounded the building and tried to disperse opposition supporters during a post-election news conference.
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The APC spokesperson confirmed that the woman was a nurse and a party worker.
Members of the opposition parties said that the incident unfolded like a "horror film" and that "live rounds" and "shots" had been fired.
Police did not confirm the death while saying that they had fired tear gas canisters "to disperse the crowd which was disturbing people on the road."
Could the unrest continue?
While calm returned to Sierra Leone on Monday, citizens fear that more unrest could occur as results get announced.
After the publication of the provisional results, Bio addressed the nation and called on people to maintain peace.
During his first term, the former coup leader championed education and women's rights.
Meanwhile, his rival Kamara, a former foreign and finance minister, is facing trial over allegations of misappropriating public funds, a case he says is politically motivated.
The West African country is still emerging from a 1991-2002 civil war which left over 50,000 people dead.
(Reuters, AFP)
