IPNEWS – The West African nation’s National Elections Commission (NEC) on Monday, November 20, formally declared former Vice President Joseph Nyuma Boakai the winner of the November 14, 2023 Presidential Runoff Election.
Boakai and incumbent President George Manneh Weah were the two men contesting for the nation’s highest office.
Announcing the final result Monday, the Chairperson of the NEC, Madam Davidetta Browne Lansanah, said, “In this connection, the Results of the Presidential Runoff Election indicate that the presidential ticket of candidates Boakai, Joseph N. and Jeremiah K. Koung of UP has the highest number of votes 814,481 constituting 50.64% over Weah, George Manneh and Jewel Howard Taylor of CDC 793,914 votes, constituting 49.36%.
“Hence, the presidential ticket of candidates Joseph N. Boakai and Jeremiah K. Koung of the Unity Party is declared by the Commission as winner of the 14 November 2023 run-off election.”
Few days before the NEC Chairperson announced her official results, President George Manneh Weah had conceded defeat to his rival and called on all of his supporters to accept the result as he had done. The President said it was time to heal the deep divide that characterized campaign processes during the election. In addition to the President’s congratulatory message, more and more congratulations have come from many quarters and prominent individuals, including former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
After Madam Lansanah had announced the final results of the October 10, 2023 Presidential and Legislative Elections, she said the Constitution says that if none of those taking part in a national presidential election, got 50 percent+1, then the first two with the highest numbers of votes will square off in a runoff in order to determine the next president.
Twenty individuals, including 19 men and a woman, had wrestled for Liberians’ votes to be their next leader. Weah, who is the incumbent, according to the NEC, got 804,087, constituting 43.83%; while Boakai obtained 796,961, constituting 43.44%. Even though Weah got 7,126 votes more than his rival, he still didn’t qualify to be declared the next president of Liberia. The percentage margin between both men was 0.39.
The NEC Chairperson based her reliance on Article 83B of the Liberian Constitution: “All elections of public officers shall be determined by an absolute majority of the votes cast. If no candidate obtains an absolute majority in the first ballot, a second ballot shall be conducted on the second Tuesday following. The two candidates who received the greatest numbers of votes on the first ballot shall be designated to participate in the runoff election.”
According to the NEC, of the 2,471,617 Liberians, who had registered to vote in the elections, 1,949,155 (78.86%) participated in the first round of the election.
Giving her final report about the number of votes that each of two men got in total, the NEC Chairperson said UP got 814,481 votes, constituting 50.64%, while the CDC obtained 793,914 votes, constituting 49.36%. So, Boakai won with 20,567 votes more than Weah; and this constitutes 1.56%.
One million, six hundred and thirty-four thousands, one hundred and eighty three (1,634,183) Liberians voted in the Runoff. Of this number, 1,608,395 cast valid votes while 25,788 cast invalid votes.
