Liberians wait for the Supreme Court to determine whether the stalled electoral process will be restarted or proceed to a run-off election. The Court heard arguments on December 1 on the question of whether the National Election Commission’s Board of Commissions properly dismissed election fraud claims made by the Liberty Party and Unity Party. FPA – Liberia Awaits Maximum Seven Days for Fate on Presidential Elections A week earlier the NEC Board of Commissioners quashed the allegations of electoral fraud which wound their way to the Board from a hearing officer’s decision. See NEC BOC Final Ruling & FPA – Elections Commission Board of Commissioners Quashes Allegations of Fraud.
The primary issue considered by the NEC Board of Commissioners was “whether Appellants presented evidence of irregularities and/or fraud to warrant voiding the declared returns from the October 10, 2017 elections.” The Liberty Party and the Unity Party argued that not only were the election laws violated by the NEC, but that those “alleged violations deprived voters of their constitutional right to vote, and that not all voters were afforded the equal opportunity and equal protection of the Constitution and the law.” The two political parties cited irregularities such as late opening of polling sites, wrong assignment of polling sites, poor queue management, and denial of voting rights because of corruption or inaccurate information on voting registration lists. They presented witnesses, photos, and documents to substantiate their allegations that fraud took place. Incidents cited in the proceedings before the NEC Board of Commissioners included the unsealing of ballot boxes and votes cast at particular voting sites exceeding the number of registered voters. The Unity Party, at hearings before the NEC, argued that the integrity of the electoral process was broken by inaccuracies or tampering with the Final Registration Roll (FRR) and the alleged failure of the NEC to publish the list. The FRR contains the names and identifying data of registered voters. The Unity Party cited discrepancies between the FRR stored online and those FRR lists provided to political parties on “thumb drives” just before the October 10 election. FPA – Smoking Gun Points to Alleged Tampering New Dawn – Heart Stopper
The issue before the Supreme Court is whether the National Election Commission improperly denied the complaints of the Liberty Party and Unity Party. Hanging in the balance is the anticipated run-off election between George Weah and Joe Boakai, originally scheduled for November 7. The National Election Commission would have 30 days to organize a presidential run-off election if the Court rules in favor of the NEC and does not invalidate theOctober 10 election. If it does invalidate that election then there would be a re-run of the election, which the NEC would have 90 days to organize. A re-run would involve voting for all 73 seats in the House of Representatives as well as for President.
As they wait with uncertainty for the ruling of the Supreme Court, Liberians appear committed to the preservation of peace and political leaders are continuing to stress their commitment to this. Mary Lato, superintendent of the market in Butuo, Nimba County, who remembers the horrors of civil war all too well said: “if they go through the case and the Liberty Party wins, it’s OK. If the other party wins, it’s OK. I only want peace in this country.” Aljazeera – After a ‘failed’ vote, what is happening in Liberia?