Liberia: NEC Attributes Voting Challenges in Southeast to Bad Road

The National Elections Commission (NEC) attributed the logistical challenges it faced in delivering ballot papers to Sinoe and Rivercess counties to unfavorable weather and poor road conditions. 

In a press update yesterday, the Chairperson of NEC, Davidetta Brown-Lansanah, noted that the "overflowed Planson River, located on the outskirts of Greenville, created challenges for the electoral body's staff to cross and reach the polling places with the ballots in a timely manner, despite applying all efforts.

"Due to the heavy downpour of rain for the past five days, the Planson River in Sinoe County overflowed its banks and crossed the main road leading to most of the centers in District Two of Sinoe County. 

“All efforts by the NEC staff to cross the river from both sides have proven futile so far. This has affected the conduct of polls in at least 11 precincts in District Two, Sinoe County," Lansanah said.

She added that a truck, which was also "carrying election materials" to Sinoe County electoral district one, "got stuck in the mud in the Butaw area" due to heavy rainfall and bad road conditions. 

Lansanah noted that the “Election Magistrate” even arranged a fleet of motorcycles to convey the materials during the nighttime hours of October 9, but the motorcyclists also faced similar "challenges due to bad roads, leading to a late start of polls in that area."

"Due to the situation, the Commission will extend the voting time in those areas," the NEC Chair said. Similarly, in Rivercess County, the Timbo River, according to NEC, overflowed its banks, preventing the electoral body's vehicles from crossing. When the water receded, Lansanah said, vehicles "carrying election materials arrived late at their destinations," resulting in polls starting late, with some opening as late as 11:00 a.m. 

Voting time, she said, was also extended to accommodate the delay.

While the current issue may not be NEC's fault, it comes after the Liberian voting public rejected a referendum proposal in 2020 to change the country's electoral calendar from the rainy season to the dry season. 

If the referendum proposition had been approved, NEC would not have necessarily encountered such a situation, as the dry season would mean less road damage and greater access to most of the country. 

While Sinoe and Rivercess challenges have been addressed by Lansanah, she has yet to respond to the issue of slow voting across the country as a result of limited or no queue workers at some polling stations.

The situation led to serious frustration among voters, with some not even being able to vote as they spent hours standing in the wrong queue, only to be told at the last minute, when they reached the voting precinct, that they were in the wrong areas. 

For some, the required patience became unbearable, forcing them to abandon their efforts to cast their ballots. Another challenge that NEC faced in organizing yesterday's poll, which was largely peaceful, was the delay in having polling places open at the 8 a.m. start time. Most polling places were reported to have opened 30 minutes or more late.

In a mid-day situation report, the Liberia Observation Network (LEON) and the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP) noted that, although the October 10 vote experienced a huge turnout, it was marred by "delays, insufficient staff of the National Elections Commission, and political parties' and candidates' agents."

According to WANEP, while most of the polling stations were opened on schedule, there were significant numbers of them that were not open on time.

For LEON, the situation with polling stations not opening soon was not strange. As for the issue of long queues, LEON noted that it led to instances where people were "pushing and shoving each other" just to be in the queue, affecting women and people with disabilities. 

LEON noted that the situation was observed at the entrance to polling precincts in Montserrado, Lofa, Margibi, Sinoe, Bomi, and Grand Bassa counties.

Meanwhile, the peaceful nature of the vote comes after tension flared in the last few weeks of the campaign between supporters of President Weah and his main rival, Boakai, resulting in the death of at least three Liberians. At the closure of the campaign, a violent clash also ensued between supporters of Weah's ruling Coalition for Democratic Change and the All Liberian Coalition Party. 

The latter incident, which left scores of Liberians wounded and at least one person feared dead, instilled fear in the minds of many that the election would be marred by some form of violence.

The U.S. Embassy's Chargé d'Affaires, Catherine Rodriguez, has joined scores of others in appreciating Liberians for the huge voter turnout. 

"Excited to see Liberians turning out to vote. Today, I had the privilege of observing the voting process at polling stations in Monrovia. "Remember, the only election results that matter are the ones announced by the National Elections Commission NEC Liberia," Rodriguez noted.