Authorities of the National Elections Commission (NEC) yesterday announced that they have hired a European company to print ballot papers for the October polls. Jerome G. Korkoya, NEC chair, made the disclosure yesterday during a regular weekly press briefing at the Commission’s headquarters in Monrovia. Korkoya said the Commission has already concluded the process of selecting a “reputable company” noted for printing election materials, including ballot papers, from Europe. “The company has gone through all of our procurement procedures, and was determined to be the most responsive bidder,” Korkoya said. Although Korkoya did not name the company in question, he said NEC will encourage all qualified political parties’ representatives as well as independent candidates to go to Europe and monitor on behalf of their respective institutions the ballot printing process, but added that those interested in going to Europe to authentic the process will do so at their own expense. “They will pay for their own plane tickets, lodging and internal travels therein in case any group of friends choose to go to Europe,” Korkoya added.
He said the Commission will ‘very soon’ make known to the public, dates in connection with the printing of the ballot papers after NEC concludes consultations with the Public Procurement Concession Commission (PPCC). “Currently, the Commission has contracted the services of a ballot paper designer to do the designing of the papers for onward submission to the selected printer in Europe. We have assessed his designs and found out that he is compatible with our needs,” he said.
As of the other electoral issues, Korkoya reported that the Commission has created 5,390 polling places around the country for the ensuing elections, and that each center will be entitled to attend to 550 (maximum) registered voters on October 10. He noted that the assignment of such numbers of qualified voters to each center is in line with the Commission’s counting procedures.
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