TINA S. MEHNPAINE
Africa-Press – Liberia. The Liberia National Elections Commission (NEC) announced Nov 14, 2023, as a day set aside for the runoff because the two leading candidates, President George Weah and former Vice President Joseph Boakai did not get the 50% threshold for winning the first round.
Unlike October 10, polls where more than 2.4 million Liberians assembled to elect a president, vice president, and 88 members of their legislature — 73 representatives and 15 senators, this time only two candidates will be on the ballot papers.
A total of over 5,000 polling stations will be set up across the fifteen political subdivisions of the country, with voting starting at 8 a.m. and ending at 6 p.m. These stations will be staffed by polling officials who are trained by the NEC to manage the voting process.
Each station caters to a specific number of registered voters, which should not exceed three thousand, as per the Liberian Elections Law. The location of polling stations is made public in advance.
Ballot Boxes and Papers
There will be only one type of ballot paper given to each voter at every polling place, for presidential, and their vice candidates.
The ballot papers will be red, denoting the presidential election. A special ballot stamp with a unique and confidential NEC identification stamp will be used to mark the back of the ballot paper before giving it to voters.
Transparent boxes will be used, allowing election observers and political party agents to see the ballot paper being cast by the voter while maintaining the secrecy of the vote. This measure will assist in detecting tampered ballot boxes; all sealing and unsealing of ballot boxes take place in the presence of all observers, including political party agents.
Specially numbered seals are used on the ballot boxes; these seal numbers are recorded upon opening and closing of polling and upon reopening when the count begins. Empty ballot boxes at polling places are sealed in the presence of political party agents before the commencement of the polls.
The secrecy of the vote is maintained by voting screens, behind which a voter marks their ballots. Ballots are provided in packs of 550 ballots (each pack contains 11 pads of 50 pieces) with unique serial numbers. All polling places must account for all ballots (ballots issued must equal ballots cast).
How do people vote?
The voting will start at 8:00 am and will end at 6:00 pm. Make sure you have your voting identification card and go to the same place where you voted on October 10, 2023, to vote in the presidential runoff.
When you reach the center, show your voting ID card to the NEC staff and stand behind the last person on the line. Only people with special needs, such as the physical, and virtually impaired, senior citizens, pregnant women, and young baby mothers, will be assisted to stand in the line.
Give your ID card to the NEC staff so they can check on the Final Registration Roll (FRR) for your name and photo, you will be given only one ballot paper for the runoff.
How to mark the Ballot Papers
There are three ways to mark the ballot papers. You must mark with a pen using a check mark, or an X, or with a thumbprint in the box beside the photo of the candidates of your choice, if you mark using a thumbprint you should wait a moment till the mark dries before folding the ballot papers and placing it in the ballot box.
Counting Process
Counting deals with calculating how many ballot papers went into the conduct of the election, particularly figures obtained by each contestant. There are three stages of counting: Reconciliation, sorting of ballots, and counting of the ballot papers. Reconciliation means checking that the number of ballot papers received for a polling place equals all ballot papers that were used, unused, and spoiled. Sorting is the separation of the ballot papers into smaller groups based on the candidates. Counting is checking the number of votes for each candidate.
All party agents and observers are to be properly positioned during the counting to be able to clearly observe all stages of the process at the end of the counting of the ballot papers for the two candidates in the runoff election. The record of count forms will be filled out, signed, and stamped by the NEC staff. Party agents are also encouraged to sign.
The original copy of the record of count is placed in a security envelope called a “Tamper Evident Envelope” and sent to the tally center for consolidation. The second copy is posted on the wall for public view. NEC has a full tally center result management in place.
The TEE-3 is opened in the presence of accredited party members and observers. A projector screen to beam digital images is connected to make sure that everyone in the tally center can easily view the entries by the data clerk, upon completion of the input of the records.
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