LAF Elections Commission Releases Guidelines for November 20's Polls

The Liberia Athletics Federation (LAF) Elections Commission has released the Guidelines for the elections of the federation, which is scheduled to take place on Saturday, November 20, 2021.

The elections are part of the LAF 63rd General Assembly, which will bring together members of the Executive Committee, registered clubs and individual members  to be held at the offices of the Liberia National Olympic Committee (LNOC), on Randall Street, Monrovia.

The elections of officers of LAF for the next quadrennial, which begins 2022 to 2026, are in consonance with the By-laws and Constitution of the LAF and that of the World Althletics (WA), which calls for elections to be held after every four years.

The last elections were held on Saturday, November 25, 2017. Cllr. Sylvester Dorbor Rennie is the chairman of the 3-man Elections Commission. Cllr. Rennie is the Vice President of the Administration of the Liberia National Olympics Committee (LNOC).

According to the Elections Guidelines, the positions to be contested for are President, Vice President for Administration, Vice President for Technical Affairs, Financial Secretary and Treasurer.

The LAF guideline says each applicant wishing to contest any of the above positions as mentioned, shall write a letter to the Secretary of the Commission, stating his/her interest using either of the mediums and shall also pay a non-refundable fee to the Secretary of the Commission as follows: President US$250.00; Vice Presidents Adm./Technical Affairs US$200.00; Financial Secretary and Treasurer US$150.00 each.

“Registration begins from Wednesday, November 3, 2021 and ends on Monday, November 15, 2021 by 6pm. for Applicants wishing to contest any of the positions during the LAF's General Assembly scheduled for Saturday, November 20, 2021,” the guideline says.

“Only heads of clubs and executive committee at the time, who are qualified as per the listing of the Liberia Athletic Federation (LAF), shall be eligible to contest. In the case of the individual, he/she can contest for one of the positions; and in the case of the institutions, each club is also allowed to field a single candidate to contest for one of the positions.

“Before a member is eligible to contest any position for election during LAF's election for leadership or have a right to vote, said member must have attended three out of four general assemblies/congresses,” it stated.

The LAF guideline furthered: “Clubs/individual members and affiliates, who are not involved in the LAF's activities, are not eligible to contest, participate or nominate a candidate to participate in the election until said Club/individual members shall assume their active role. There shall be no proxy voting and voting shall be done through secret ballot. The List of qualified (eligible) candidates will be published by the LAF Elections Commission on Tuesday, November 16, 2021 at the LAF’s Offices at the Samuel K. Doe Sports Complex in Paynesville and in some local Newspapers.”

According to the LAF guideline, each qualified candidate will be required to send a passport-size photo to have the same placed on the ballot and campaign for the LAF’s Elections begins Tuesday, November 16, 2021 and ends on Friday, November 19, 2021, by midnight.

It also said that the LAF Elections Commission will also publish the list of qualified voters on Wednesday, November 16, 2021 at the LAF’s Offices at the Samuel K. Doe Sports Complex in Paynesville, and in some local Newspapers. 

“On Saturday, November 20, 2021, election begins as stipulated in the General Assembly/Congress' documents at the Liberia National Olympics Committee on Randall Street, Monrovia (LNOC) and will last for three hours.The counting of the ballots begins immediately after the close of the polls, and each candidate is requested to send the name of one representative during the voting, counting of ballots and announcement of the results. The election results will be immediately announced after the counting of the ballots,” the guideline maintained.

Meanwhile, the guideline said any candidate who has a complaint to be filed after the election results are announced, must do so within five (5) minutes following the announcement of the results, along with a Non-Refundable fee of US$200.00. And upon receipt of the complaint, the LAF Elections Commission will immediately probe into such complaint and make a determination thereto. If a candidate has any complaint prior to the voting process, said candidate is also allowed to file such a complaint to the LAF Elections Commission. And upon receipt of said complaint and fees, the LAF Elections Commission will immediately probe into the same and come out with its finding, before proceeding with the voting process.

“All eligible voters, be it individual or club, are entitled to one vote each during the voting process,” the guideline said.