Diaspora Liberians Want to Vote in 2023 Elections
Alfred Sieh, Chair of ALCOD’s Exploratory Committee on Out-of-Country Voting is in Liberia to explore ways for diaspora Liberians to vote in the October 2023 Presidential and Legislative Elections
Liberians in the diaspora are doing all to fully participate in the October 2023 Presidential and Legislative Elections by casting their votes in their present places of residence outside Liberia.
Liberians are set to go to the polls in October 2023 to vote for the President and lawmakers. It is in those elections and going forward that Diaspora Liberians want to be actively involved by casting their ballots in their respective places of residences.
“So, after the signing of the Dual Citizenship Bill, Liberians in the diaspora are interested in participating in the elections come October 2023,” said Alfred Sieh, Chair of ALCOD’s Exploratory Committee on Out-of-Country Voting. “We all know that on December 10, 1948, the United Nations adopted a resolution making the right to vote a human right. We are blessed that the 1986 Constitution, Article 80 Section ‘C’ states among other things that one can vote in person or you can do absentee voting.”
He further stated that “absentee voting” provides them (diaspora Liberians) the guarantee that they can vote from their places of residence around the world.
Sieh noted that he is in Liberian to begin exploring ways under which this campaign can be realized as forming an integral part of the National Elections Committee (NEC) processes leading towards the successful hosting of the elections in 2023.
This new campaign comes weeks following the signing into law by President George Manneh Weah, the new Dual Citizenship bill, which grants certain rights and privileges.
However, the law does grant privilege to voting outside of Liberia
Sieh however disclosed that he has hit the ground running by planning several meetings with key stakeholders on elections matters in the country.
He also said that he will be holding meetings, too, with other national stakeholders in areas that have to do with diaspora Liberians’ welfare.
He named the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Justice and Finance, and Development Planning as some of the major Governments of Liberia institutions that he will pay courtesy calls on their heads.
He also disclosed that before he came to Liberia, he had established contacts with the International Foundation for Elections System (IFES), which told him that currently, “they don’t have any operations in Liberia and that they will be willing to come in and work along with the NEC in finding ways to meet the desire of Diaspora Liberians.”
He disclosed that he also made contacts with the Carter Center, the International Republican Institute, and the National Democratic Institute and all showed a willingness to come and help in the process.
“So we have the international support that if the Elections Commission agrees to work with us, we can all source the resources from these institutions to create the good mechanism for the elections,” the ALCOD’s Chair on the Exploratory Committee on Out-of-Country Voting, said.