Liberians exercised their fundamental democratic rights on October 10, 2023, casting their votes to elect the nation’s president, 15 senators, and 73 members of the House of Representatives. These elections marked the fifth consecutive democratic transition since the end of the country’s devastating civil war in 2003.
As the Liberian people eagerly await the official pronouncement of results from the National Elections Commission (NEC), an early glimpse into the preliminary figures shows Joseph N. Boakai, the opposition candidate from the Unity Party and former Vice President, taking a commanding lead in the presidential race.
The provisional results, released by the NEC, are based on a fraction of the total polling places, with only 6.66% of results reported at this time.
With votes tallied from 392 of the 5,890 polling places, Joseph Boakai has secured 46.27% of the total votes, positioning him ahead of the incumbent President, George Manneh Oppong Weah, who has garnered 39.6% of the votes counted thus far. Following closely is Cllr. Tiwan Gongloe, with 3.59% of the votes.
The Elections Coordinating Committee (ECC), Liberia’s largest domestic election observation network, has urged the Liberian population to remain calm during this pivotal moment in the nation’s history. They emphasize the importance of waiting for the NEC’s official announcement of the election results, as they are the authorized body responsible for conducting the elections and delivering the official verdict.
In an exclusive interview with Roland Kamara, Communications Coordinator at the ECC, he confirmed that election day unfolded relatively peacefully. However, he did express concerns about the delay in delivering voting materials to certain polling centres, leading to a late start of the voting process in those areas.
“Things are relatively on course in Liberia. There’s no reported electoral violence, except to say that there were instances where ballots did not reach the electorate on time, thus leading to the postponement of voting. In some places, there are problems with accessibility of roads and flooding,” Kamara stated.
Kamara also acknowledged the preliminary results that put Joseph Boakai in the lead.
“Preliminary results put former Vice President Joseph Boakai in the lead, but it is still too soon to conclude what’s going to happen. The reality is the elections could result in a runoff between the incumbent President George Manneh Oppong Weah and former Vice President Joseph Nyumah Boakai,” Kamara said.
The ECC has noted that the just-concluded elections took place without significant electoral laws and regulations reforms, occurring within a highly polarized and divided political environment marked by social inequalities.
Despite this, the organization commended the Liberian government for its substantial contribution to financing the elections.
While the campaign season was mostly peaceful, it was also marked by inflammatory and divisive rhetoric, contributing to isolated incidents of electoral violence in specific districts, including District Number 9, Montserrado County; Foya, District Number One, Lofa County; and District Number 12, Montserrado County.
The ECC has proactively deployed 19 tally observers to the NEC’s 19 magisterial offices to closely monitor the result tabulation process. Observers from the ECC, stationed across all 73 districts, reported that Liberians turned out to vote peacefully, with only sporadic instances of tension due to overcrowding at some precincts. A noteworthy observation was the long queues of voters, who remained dedicated throughout the night to exercise their democratic rights.
In 91% of observed polling places, voters were still in queues at 6:00 pm, underscoring the high level of interest among Liberians to vote. However, it also raises questions about the need to assess the distribution of voters among polling places.
The ECC appeals to the Elections Commission to provide timely updates on the timeline for announcing results and to inform the public of any challenges in the process. The ECC has deployed a total of 1,592 trained and accredited observers, comprising 1,200 polling place observers, 300 mobile observers, 73 electoral district supervisors, and 19 county coordinators, ensuring comprehensive coverage across all 73 electoral districts of Liberia.
NEC is expected to continue announcing additional provisional results within the legally mandated 15-day period for announcing the final election results. In the event that no candidate secures at least 50% plus one vote of the valid votes, a runoff election is anticipated between the two leading candidates within 14 days from the announcement of results by the National Elections Commission. Liberia awaits the official pronouncement while staying hopeful for a smooth transition of power
