Lennart Dodoo
Africa-Press – Liberia. XChambers’ complaint was first filed before the Election Magistrate in Maryland County where he cited several alleged malpractices. However, the Magistrate ruled that a determination could only be made on the matter after the pronouncement of the final results by the National Elections Commission (NEC) in accordance with the law.
However, not being satisfied with the ruling the Speaker filed a nine-count Bill of Exception before the Hearing Officer at the NEC headquarters in Monrovia listing a litany of alleged malpractices while expressing his disenchantment that the Magistrate erred when she ruled that she could not make a determination on the matter until after the pronouncement of the final results.
According to the NEC final results from Maryland County District 2 (Old Plebo Sodeken District) Williams accumulated 8,105 votes (45.29%) while Chambers got 7,919 votes (44.84%). This shows that Williams won by 186 votes difference.
Bill of Exception filed before the Hearing Officer – a key requirement in the law in the filing of petitions and Bills.
According to the law, when submitting a complaint to a court of records, it is crucial to clearly state what relief or action you seek from the court or hearing officers in that complaint. In Bhofal Chambers’ complaint, no specific requests were made to the NEC, and the law stipulates that if you do not request anything in a case or a Bill of Exception, the court or hearing officers cannot provide any remedies.
Meanwhile, Williams’ lawyers are arguing and urging the NEC to dismiss the complaint because Chambers did not make any requests to the NEC Commissioners during the hearing.
On the other hand, Chambers’ lawyers are appealing to the NEC Commissioners to send the case back to Maryland for the magistrate to hear the case and issue a ruling before any further action is taken in Monrovia. However, Willaims’ lawyers disagree with this proposal. They argue that Chambers did not wait for the magistrate’s ruling during the Maryland hearing; he simply left for Monrovia and filed a Bill of Exception with the NEC Hearing Officer. Therefore, Williams’ lawyers are requesting that the NEC Commissioners make the determination in Monrovia and avoid returning to Maryland. They believe that this request for a return to Maryland is merely a delay tactic employed by Bhofal Chambers and his legal team.
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