IPNEWS: Liberia remain quite a day following a heavily contested presidential runoff elections in Liberia where incumbent President George Manneh Weah, of the CDC and former vice president, Joseph Nyuma Boakai challenged head-to-head following the first round on October 10, 2023, general elections, in which both candidates along with 18 other presidential candidates failed to reach the constitutional 50+1 percent votes cast, to secure the presidency.

Across the Liberian capital Monrovia, many are seen glued to their radio as unofficial field reports emerges.

Vote counts are continuing with preliminary results expected to be announced later Wednesday, November 15, 2023, according to the National Elections Commission.

Unlike October 10 polls, voters queued in lines in anticipation of voting their choosing for President and members to the National Assembly as early as 4:00A. M., Tuesday’s runoff turnout was relatively low at many polling precincts across the country.

Initial reports by IPNEWS team in Bong, Bomi, Geand Bassa, River Gee, Maryland, Lofa and a scores of other counties speak of a very low turnout of electorates. Like several other counties, the environment   at many precients in Gboata, Bong County, showed less than two dozen of electorates.

Similar situation was witnessed at a precinct on the main campus of the Cuttington University campus in Bong County.

Many observers put the low turnout to an unprecedented trucking by many political parties and candidates during the just ended October 10 ,  presidential and Legislative elections.

Scores of citizens spoken to wonder the potential consequence of trucking to Liberia’s young democracy, especially the reluctance of voters at today, November 14 polls.

Many believe that during the October 10, 2023, elections- legislative candidates trucked the electorate to different parts of the country, and because voters are only allowed to vote where they registered, those that were trucked doing the previous elections might not have the resources to return to those places they were trucked to.

As the vote counting continues, the opposition Unity Party (UP) has expressed deep concern and dissatisfaction over yesterday’s press statement by the National Elections Commission (NEC), calling its polling staff to reject and discontinue the practice of reading out voters’ names during the polling process.

The UP in a release stated that the Party deems the move as a direct affront to specific sections of the new elections law.

The Unity Party referenced Sections 5.4 and 5.6 of the new elections law which mandates that voters entering a polling place must state their names to the Voter Identification Officer (VIO).

The UP stated that it believes that the process of verifying names of voters on the Final Registration Roll (FRR) is to ensure transparency and allows party agents to verify the accuracy of the voter list provided by the NEC.

In a communication to the NEC on October 24, 2023, the UP had informed the Commission of its intention to issue hard copies of the Final Registration Roll (FRR) to poll watchers for further verification.

However, the NEC’s recent decision to discontinue this voter verification process has left many questions from the public as to the motive behind its latest move.

The UP contends that, with a three-foot distance, party agents would have ample opportunity to hear the names of voters and cross-reference them with the FRR to ensure accuracy. The abrupt change in procedure has fueled speculation within the UP that certain element within the NEC may be conspiring to manipulate the electoral process.

The UP has officially rejected the NEC’s directive and is calling on the Commission to uphold the law as promised during a previous meeting with both the Unity Party and the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC). The party perceives the timing of the NEC’s statement, released in the midst of the polling process, as an attempt to disrupt and undermine the credibility and integrity of the runoff election.

Earlier Tuesday, November 14, by noon, the NEC issued a statement expressing worry about reported incidents where party agents are demanding polling staff to read out voters’ names before casting their votes.

The NEC stated that it views the practice of verification of Final Registration Roll (FRR) by political party Agents as a direct violation of established polling and counting procedures, emphasizing its potential to compromise voter privacy and the secrecy of the voting process.

The NEC categorically denied any existence of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with political parties regarding the reading of voters’ names and cross-referencing them against the FRR. The Commission insisted that such practices contradict its established procedures and urges political parties to refrain from engaging in activities that could jeopardize the fairness and integrity of the electoral process.

On the contrary, Liberia’s National Elections Commission (NEC) calls on political parties’ agents who are assigned at various polling places and who are demanding that voters be only allowed to vote after they had been identified in the Final Registration Roll (FRR), to desist from such as it “is against the polling and counting procedures” of the Commission.

In a release issued on Runoff Election Day, Tuesday, November 14, the NEC said: “It has come to the attention of the National Elections that some party agents are demanding the polling staffs to read out the names of voters prior to voting so that the voters is identified in Final Registration Roll in the possession of party agents. The Commission says this is against the polling and counting procedures, and it has the propensity to expose voters to undue scrutiny by unauthorized persons, thereby jeopardizing the protection of the voters.” In addition to the above, the NEC says, “It also compromises the secrecy of the voting process.” The NEC then warned its polling staffs to desist from doing so with immediate effect.

The Commission denies and rejects reports that it had signed an MOU with political parties in this Presidential Runoff Election relative to calling of voters’ names and checking them against the copy of the FRR issued to political parties.

In other related developments, the Commission says that rumors circulating on social media that pre-marked ballots were discovered in Foya, Lofa County is fake news and a disinformation campaign intended to undermine the electoral process and discourage Liberians from turning out to vote.

“The Commission emphatically says that it did not issue any instruction to pre mark ballots for the ongoing Presidential Runoff Election. All NEC ballots deployed to the magisterial offices and onward to the 2080 precincts and 5890 polling places remained intact for deployment for polling on 14 November 2023.”

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