Liberia: Allegations of Elections Foul Play to Trigger Run-Off Endorsement Delays | allAfrica.com

The barrage of suspected electoral fraud and irregularities has made political parties who did not make it to the runoff elections hesitant to endorse any of the two parties contesting in the November runoff election. While the ruling Unity Party (UP) and the opposition Coalition for Democratic are intensely lobbying to win over some of the major opposition political parties to complement their strength in the runoff election, most of the parties being relied upon are doubtful over who to support because they feel cheated in the elections. Liberty Party for example, is calling for reelection on ground that the October 10 polls did not meet the minimum standards to be referred as free, fair, transparent elections.

Liberia: Liberia Heads for Presidential Runoff | Wall Street Journal

A retired soccer star and Liberia’s vice president will square off in November in a runoff to succeed the longtime president after no candidate got enough votes in this month’s first round. George Weah, who was FIFA’s World Player of the Year in 1995, took 39% of the vote in the Oct. 10 poll, with nearly 96% of ballots counted. Vice President Joseph Nyumah Boakai of the ruling Unity Party was second with 29%. The two candidates, who topped a field of 20, will vie to succeed President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning economist who has served two six-year terms, the maximum allowed under the constitution. The contest is set to result in the West African nation’s first peaceful transition of power in more than 50 years. Final results, as certified by Liberia’s National Election Commission, will be announced by Oct. 25.

Liberia: Weah to face Boakai in runoff for Liberian presidency | The Guardian

The former international footballer George Weah and Liberia’s vice-president, Joseph Boakai, will face a runoff for the country’s presidency on 7 November, the electoral commission announced on Sunday. With tallies in from 95.6% of polling stations, Weah took 39% of the votes and Boakai 29.1%, both well short of the 50% barrier required to win outright from the first round of voting held on Tuesday. Whoever wins the second round of voting will replace Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa’s first elected female head of state, who is stepping down as president after a maximum of two terms. Jerome Korkoya, the chairman of the National Elections Commission, told journalists that 1,550,923 votes had been counted and turnout was at 74.52% across the small west African nation. The handover would represent Liberia’s first peaceful transfer of power in more than seven decades.

Liberia: Political party calls for halt to vote-counting | Associated Press

One of Liberia’s largest political parties called for a halt to counting of election results on Thursday, alleging voting irregularities and fraud, as the country awaited the announcement of the first provisional results. Angry supporters gathered to protest at Liberty Party headquarters, claiming polls in the West African nation opened late and that ballot-tampering occurred in at least one location in the capital, Monrovia. “These people stood in the rain and under the sun; these people sacrificed,” the party’s vice chair for political affairs, Abe Darius Dillon, told The Associated Press. The Liberty Party’s flag-bearer is Charles Brumskine, a corporate lawyer who placed third in 2005 elections and fourth in 2011.

Liberia: Provisional election results expected Thursday | The Washington Post

Liberia’s provisional election results are expected Thursday, the election commission said Wednesday, as the West African nation waits to see who will succeed the Nobel Peace Prize winner who led the country’s recovery from Ebola and civil war. A runoff election was widely expected with 20 candidates vying to replace Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa’s first female president. The National Election Commission said local vote counting had ended after a largely smooth election. It apologized for delays in some areas and said it had quarantined materials from one precinct and will investigate reports of alleged compromised voting.

Liberia: Liberians hope for peace in vote still haunted by civil war | Reuters

Thousands lined up at polling booths in Liberia’s capital on Tuesday for their first democratic transfer of power in 73 years in a vote haunted by a savage civil war that ended in 2003. Many Liberians on Tuesday praised 78-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner Ellen Johnson Sirleaf for keeping peace since the dark days of the 14-year conflict when gangs of drugged child soldiers wearing ammunition belts marauded through the streets. Yet, while preparations have been peaceful, a former rebel leader Prince Johnson is one of the 20 candidates and an ex-wife of warlord Charles Taylor, now in a British jail, is the running mate of one of the favorites, former soccer player George Weah. Unlike neighboring Sierra Leone which had a U.N.-backed court for civil war crimes committed in both countries, Liberia has prioritized reconciliation over justice and some of those involved in the war that killed a quarter of a million people are still prominent public figures.

Liberia: Voting, Counting Going on Simultaneously in Liberia Elections | Front Page Africa

Polls are closed at some centers across Liberia while other centers are still overcrowded with many registered voters who are yet to cast their votes standing in queues. Poll agents at the Unification Town Hall at the Fair Ground in Grand Bassa County have expressed fear that voting may continue until midnight or tomorrow morning due to hundreds of voters who are still in the polling center wanting to cast their votes. The Electoral supervisors at the Fair Ground in Bassa say the situation is due to disarrangement of voters ID in the voters roll which has made it difficult for poll workers to identify the precincts people with valid voters IDs are to vote. 

Liberia: Voters go to polls to find successor to Africa’s first female president | The Guardian

At midnight on Sunday, as Liberia prepared to vote for the successor to Africa’s first female president, a rebel warlord arrived at his Monrovia residence, where a pair of menacing cement lions greeted him. Prince Johnson, the former rebel leader who ordered the murder of President Samuel Doe in 1990 – and filmed himself drinking beer as he watched Doe’s ear being chopped off – had just wrapped up his presidential campaign in his countryside strongholds in north-east Nimba. In the last poll in 2011, he played kingmaker, pledging his support to President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf when the election went to a run-off. This time, however, he feels he could win it. “I don’t see why I should be kingmaker and not king,” he said, holding court at his battered desk on a verandah, wearing a dapper pink and green suit and a red tasseled hat, as cocks crew in the surrounding yard.

Liberia: Ballot Boxes Reportedly Held Hostage by Campaign Traffic Ahead of Liberia Elections | Front Page Africa

Officials in Liberia are raising fears that some ballot boxes making their way to rural parts of the country may not get to some parts of the country by voting day Tuesday. A senior security official confirmed to FrontPageAfrica Saturday that a back line of traffic in the capital has left cars stranded for several hours. The opposition Alternative National Congress held its rally Saturday at the Antoinette Tubman Stadium while the ruling Unity Party also held a closing rally at its headquarters in Congo Town. Earlier in the day supporters of the ANC braved massive rains to storm the ATS in its launch in the nation’s capitol.

Liberia: Election next week is a true test of democracy in Africa’s oldest republic | The Washington Post

In landmark elections slated for Oct. 10, Liberians will vote in the country’s third postwar presidential and legislative races. Incumbent Ellen Johnson Sirleaf — Africa’s first female president — is ineligible to run because of constitutionally mandated term limits. So January 2018 will mark the first time in recent memory that a democratically elected Liberian president will hand power to a similarly elected head of state. A nation of 4.5 million people, Liberia is a sliver of a country in West Africa “founded” in 1847 by black migrants from the United States, the Caribbean and the Congo River basin. Clashes between these settlers and the 16 ethnic groups already occupying the territory spiraled Liberia into more than a century of political upheavals.

Liberia: Urey Concerned Over Number of Excess Ballots | allAfrica.com

Although the National Elections Commission (NEC) chairman Jerome G. Korkoya has clarified the commission’s decision to bring in excess presidential ballots for the October 10 elections, the standard bearer of the opposition All Liberian Party (ALP), said the excess ballot papers is alarming. Korkoya’s explanation was in response to comments and questions from the public regarding the commission’s decision to bring into the country nearly one million excess presidential ballots. But Mr. Benoni Urey said the excess ballot papers were something to keep the public in worry, “Because it tends to undermine the conduct of the peaceful elections.”

Liberia: Elections Violence Overwhelming Liberia, Liberians In Great Fear For Elections Result Acceptance | GNN

Since the start of political campaigns around the country for elected positions in the pending October 10, 2017 general and presidential elections, the news of election violence seems to be overwhelming as many supporters of political parties continue to breed confusion during their exercises. Uncountable elections temptations are been reported each day with one party and the others are said to be at each other’s throat with their supporters reportedly inciting what many considered as elections violence, a situation if not carefully handled may lead to a  serious crisis during this period.

Liberia: Ballot papers arrive in Monrovia | Africanews

Ballot papers for the Liberia 2017 elections arrived on Saturday night in Monrovia, the capital. They were offloaded off an Egyptian carrier under tight security at the Roberts International Airport before being taken to the National Elections Commission(NEC) head office. The three million copies are only for the presidential vote, and more are expected by September 28. Liberian NEC says by the end of the month, ballot papers for the House of Representatives will have arrived as well.

Liberia: EU Deploys Observers Ahead of Elections | allAfrica.com

The European Union Mission to Liberia has reportedly deployed ten long-term Election Observer Teams across the country ahead of next month’s elections scheduled for October 10. The EU said the group of election experts consists of one woman and one man each. They are part of the EU Election Observation Mission to Liberia that will observe the Presidential and Legislative Elections. After three days of intensive briefings and preparations in Monrovia, the EU Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) in Liberia deployed all 20 long-term-observers and drivers into the regions of the country. Ten woman and ten men from 20 different European countries are observing the Presidential and legislative elections in all 15 Liberian counties.

Liberia: Japan, UNDP Strengthen Election Security Support with U$1.14m Grant | Liberian Observer

The Government of Japan and United Nations Development Program have filled a crucial gap in election security funding. In advance of the October 10, 2017 general elections in Liberia, Japan and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) yesterday signed an exchange of notes to strengthen election security with a fund of US$1.14 million. The project is to support the deployment of police and other civilian security personnel to provide security during the elections.

Liberia: Carter Center Launches International Election Observation Mission | FrontPageAfrica

The Carter Center has launched an international election observation mission to Liberia’s Oct. 10 presidential and legislative elections. Six long-term observers recently joined a core team of experts already on the ground. Together, the team represents six countries. The Center’s observers will meet regularly with representatives of the National Election Commission, political party candidates, civil society organizations, the international community, and citizen election observers to assess electoral preparations and the pre-electoral environment, including election administration, campaigning, voter education, and other issues. They will be joined by a larger delegation of election observers in October that will assess the voting, counting, and tabulation processes. 

Liberia: EU Invited to Observe Elections | Daily Observer

Foreign Minister, Madam Marjon Kamara and the head of the European Union (EU) Delegation to Liberia, Amb. Tiina Intelmann, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) concerning the observation of the 2017 presidential and representative elections – one final act as head of the EU Delegation to Liberia. Ms. Intelmann leaves the country shortly after a successful two and half year stint as head of the EU Delegation to Liberia. According to a Foreign Ministry release, the MoU signed between the Government of Liberia and the European Union at the Foreign Ministry on Monday, August 28, is based on an invitation extended to the EU on February 1st, 2017 by the Government to observe the 2017 presidential and representative elections.

Liberia: House Reviews New Election Law From Senate | allAfrica.com

A joint committee of the House of Representatives, comprising Elections & Inauguration and the Judiciary is reviewing a new election law to amend certain provisions of the elections law to clarify the powers and authority of the National Elections Commission with respect to the qualification of political parties and organizations for elections, determining election results and election disputes.’ The Joint Committee is expected to report and advise the House’s Plenary next Tuesday, August 29, as to whether the august body should concur with the Liberian Senate.

Liberia: Church Summons Political Leaders to Discuss Successful Elections | allAfrica.com

A conference to gather political leaders to discuss the future of Liberia and the conduct of violent free elections is expected to kick up on August 25, 2017. The church of Liberia under the auspices of Turning Point Liberia is bringing church leaders and political leaders to discuss the way forward in these elections. The Head of Turning Point Liberia Bishop Jonathan Foxx is calling political leaders to use this opportunity to interface with the church. “This is to evaluate their moral and spiritual values, which we believe will grant us as community of Christian believers the insight to make a Godly and wise decision come October, for the first time in the history of Liberia, Church leaders have surface to address issues pertaining to the General elections.”

Liberia: Presidential Transition Act Surfaces at Legislature | Liberian Observer

With the elections approximately six weeks away, the winner off the popular vote will be entitled to just a brief moment to gloat and then get down to the business of assuming leadership of the country.  And from the day the President-elect and Vice President-elect are announced, a series of transitional activities must take place leading up to inauguration. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has submitted a new bill (act) to the Legislature that, if passed into law, will be titled, The Presidential Transitional Act of 2017. The bill makes room for, among other things, any logistical, political, security, appropriative and other activities that would be required for the smooth transfer of political power between the President and Vice President and the President-elect and Vice President-elect, respectively.

Liberia: Ballot Papers to Be Printed in Europe | Liberian Observer

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.

Liberia: Elections May Be Called Off Over Legislature-Judicial Branch’s Impeachment Tussle | FrontPageAfrica

On Tuesday the House of Representatives Committee on Judiciary  submitted its preliminary report on the petition for the impeachment of his Honor Kabineh Ja’ Neh, Her Honor Jameetta Howard-Wollokollie and his Honor Philips A.Z. Banks all three being associate Justices of the Supreme Court of Liberia. According to the committee’s report, after receiving the petition a writ of summons were issued. Given that Liberian law gives a minimum of ten days for answer/returns to be filed in civil cases, notwithstanding the mandate as to when the Judiciary committee should report to plenary, the writ of summons gives the Associate Justices up to August 14, 2017 to file their answer/returns.

Liberia: President Calls for Peace as Election Campaigns Begin | VoA News

Liberia’s President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is urging peaceful elections as candidates begin campaigning to replace the Nobel Peace Prize winner who has led the West African country through the Ebola crisis and recovery from civil war. Among those running in the October 10 election are her vice president and two of the men she faced during Liberia’s last vote in 2011. In a radio broadcast late Monday, the 78-year-old Sirleaf urged political leaders to put Liberia first and control the emotions of their supporters. “We hold them as political leaders who seek the highest office of our land to act with dignity and responsibility that befits that office — to live up to their commitments to ensure violence-free elections,” she said.

Liberia: Elections Campaigns Officially Begin Today | allAfrica.com

The National Elections Commission (NEC) has declared campaign open for the ensuing elections as of today, Monday, July 31, at 12:01 a.m. until Sunday, October 8 at 11:59 p.m. “During the campaign period,” NEC chairman Jerome G. Korkoya said, “candidates are allowed to publish or display campaign literature, posters, flyers, banners, t-shirts, caps or other promotional items designed to support their election. “Both political parties and independent candidates are allowed to hold marches, parades, rallies or other assemblies for the purpose of soliciting voters and promoting their candidature by way of speeches, pictures, banners, placards, or any other printed materials. They can organize campaign committees, associations and movements to support their elections.”

Liberia: U.N. tasks Liberia to deliver ‘credible and transparent’ 2017 polls | Africanews

The United Nations (U.N.) Security Council, has called on stakeholders in Liberia to ensure that upcoming presidential polls are ‘free, fair, credible and transparent.’ The 15-member Council tasked the government to put in place an election security plan for the October 2017 elections which will see a transfer of power from Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to a new leader. The statement also commended the government and its forces who are currently in complete charge of the security after the U.N. team exited in June last year. They also called for the full participation of women in the upcoming process.

Liberia: ECOWAS raises elections concerns | New Dawn

A joint ECOWAS delegation comprising the ECOWAS Network of Electoral Commission (ECONEC) and the ECOWAS Fact-finding Team has raised concerns regarding hate messages being spread by some media institutions and on social media ahead of Liberia’s presidential and representatives’ elections. But President Ellen Johnson – Sirleaf has told the delegation in Monrovia Wednesday, 19 July that government is determined to manage such situation without infringing on the right to free speech. “We must ensure that peace reigns before, during and after the elections because the 2017 elections constitute Liberia’s defining moment, which will test whether the country can move forward with political maturity or retrogress,” Mrs. Sirleaf said during a meeting with the ECOWAS delegation.

Liberia: Alternative National Congress Still Confident of Credible Elections | FrontPageAfrica

The Alternative National Congress (ANC) says it is still confident in the ability of the National Elections Commission (NEC) to conduct free, fair and transparent elections, despite rejecting their vice standard bearer’s nomination. On Monday, the party’s chairman, Lafayette Gould told journalists that despite the NEC’s rejection, his vice standard bearer Ambassador Jeremiah Sulunteh will be on the ballot as running mate to Alexander Cummings. … The ANC chairman called on supporters of the ANC to remain calm, confident and undistracted over the recent announcement from the National Elections Commission (NEC).

Liberia: Voter Roll Alarm: Former Foreign Minister Calls For State of Emergency | FrontPageAfrica

Speaking to FrontPageAfrica Saturday, Mr. Ngafuan, now a supporter of Vice President Joseph Boakai said, NEC handling of the process is giving him jitters. “Quite frankly, I am afraid. From what I’ve heard from Chairman Jerome Korkoya, I think we all, political actors and journalists need to sound the alarm and call a state of emergency around this issue because elections are won or lost based on the credibility of the voter roll.” NEC commenced the Exhibition of the Provisional Voter Roll on June 12, 2017 and ended on June 17 at all 2080 Exhibition Centers (formerly Voter Registration Centers) across the country. The exercise is a cardinal electoral date as per Article 9.2 of the Voter Registration Regulations and in keeping with section 3.6 of the New Elections Law of Liberia.

Liberia: Delay in 2017 Presidential Elections Likely | allAfrica.com

In only a matter of weeks, Liberia’s National Elections Commission will commence unveiling the list of candidates certified to contest the upcoming presidential and legislative elections. “The bottom line is if you do not have Ombudsman in place, everyone will be allowed to run because the Senate is dragging its feet on the confirmation process of those appointed by the President” – A source, speaking on condition of anonymity. But one small nagging issue continues to complicate and already complicated election process: The controversial Code of Conduct and the fate of the Ombudsman Committee expected to decide the fate of many political figures affected by the ruling.

Liberia: Outgoing Senate Leader Sees Need for Electoral Reform | Sierra Leone Times

The outgoing Liberian Senate Pro Tempore said that while there were some flaws in the December 20 special senatorial election, Liberians must respect and improve on their electoral process. Senator Gbehzongar Findley of Grand Bassa County lost his seat to Jonathan Kaipay of the opposition Liberty Party. Elections Commission Chair Jerome Korkoya announced the final results Saturday. It appears the ruling Unity Party will have won seven or eight Senate seats when the legislative body reconvenes next month.