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On October 10 Liberians will go to the polls to elect their next president, parliamentarians, and senators.
It will be the fourth post-war democratic presidential and legislative elections in the West African country.
All Liberian citizens not less than 18 years of age who have registered as a voter shall have the right to vote in the October elections.
Voters with disabilities can have someone help them mark and cast their ballot. The helper must also be duly registered to vote. And the persons helping another person to vote must keep their vote secret.
According to the country’s National Elections Commission, the total number of Registered Voters is 2,471,617.
There are 1,026 candidates, and 159, or 15%, are females, while 867, or 85%, are males.
US$ 91,958,557 was budgeted for the upcoming elections and submitted to the 54th National Legislature of Liberia for approval.
The total number of Registered Political Parties in Liberia is 46. However, a total of 20 presidential candidates will be seeking power in the upcoming elections.
Out of the 20 presidential candidates, two of them are women.
The total number of Polling Places is 5,890. The polling place is an “assigned voting location, open on Election Day, for voters to receive and cast their official ballot.”
The total number of Voting Precincts is 2,080. The voting precinct “is a subdivision of an electoral district, typically a contiguous area within which all electors go to a single polling place to cast their ballots.”
Each polling place will be staffed by seven (7) persons
- Presiding officer (PO)
- Voters identification officer (VIO)
- Ballot paper issuer (BPI)
- Inker
- Ballot box controller (BBC)
- Queue controller (QC)
- Precinct queue controller
Voting will start at 8:am and end at 6:00 p.m., but all voters already in the queue can cast their ballots beyond 6:00 p.m.
There are three categories of ballot papers to be issued in three different colors:
Presidential and vice presidential ballot – Red
Senatorial Ballot – Blue
Representative Ballot – Green
All ballot boxes will also be marked with the corresponding ballot paper color.
The Campaign period, declared by the country’s National Elections Commission, is from August 5, 2023, to October 8, 2023.
For the first time, NEC has introduced the ‘Biometric Voter Registration’ exercise. According to the Commission, the BVR, a significant shift from the manual system, will not be used on voting day.
Though Liberian voters will revert to the same manual system to cast their votes on October 10, the NEC says the introduction of the BVR was designed to minimize irregularities and double registrations.
In keeping with the new election law, the Commission is expected to announce or declare results in the course of fifteen days after voting. “The NEC will also announce provisional results as it receives county reports.”
“The presidential ballots will be counted first, followed by the senate and then House of Representatives ballot.” During the counting process, the only people allowed to be present are: “Accredited NEC officials, accredited Domestic and International observers, accredited party representatives, accredited journalists, and LNP.”