Liberia’s Electoral Body, NEC Declares Open Campaigns For Liberia’s Run-Off Presidential Election

The National Elections Commission (NEC) has finally announced the final results from the October 10th, 2017 Presidential and Representative Elections, declaring that none of the 20 Presidential Candidates obtained the Constitutional requirement of 50 percent plus one vote to be declared winner in a first round of voting.

The Board of Commissioners of NEC at a Press Conference today said, all of the 5, 390 Polling Places have reported representing 100 percent of a total of 1, 553, 348 of the total numbers of valid votes cast in the October 10th, 2017 Presidential and Representative Elections in Liberia.

Declaring the final Presidential results today, Thursday, October 19, 2017, the Chairman Cllr. Jerome Korkoya said the Coalition for Democratic Change, CDC of Ambassador George Manneh Weah and Vice President Joseph Nyuma Boakai of the Unity Party, UP, will now contest the run-off election slated for Tuesday November 7, 2017.

The Commission indicated Thursday that the CDC and UP will contest the November 7 Presidential run-off Election because the two parties obtained the highest number of votes cast on October 10.

Chairman Korkoya said, the CDC of Ambassador George Manneh Weah obtained a total of 596, 037 votes, constituting 38.4 percent, followed by Vice President Joseph Nyuma Boakia who obtained a total of 446, 716 votes, amounting to 28.8 percent.

According to the final results by the NEC, the Liberty Party, LP of Cllr. Charles Walker Brumskine obtained a total of 149, 495 votes, amounting to 9.6 percent, followed by Senator Prince Y. Johnson of the Movement for Democracy and Reconstruction, MDR who got a total of 127, 666 votes, constituting 8.2 percent, while Alexander B. Cummings of the Alternative National Congress, ANC obtained a total of 112, 067 votes amounting to 7.2 percent of the total votes cast on October 10, 2017.

Meanwhile, the Commission has declared political campaign opened for the November 7, run-off election as of today October 19, 2017.

In a related development, the National Elections Commission has clarified that the Representative result from district #8 in Nimba County will not be announced because there is a difference of only 19 votes between the two leading Candidates, to which the elections law calls for an automatic recount, while the Representative result from district #3 in Grand Cape Mount County will be announced only after investigations.