Monrovia – Presiding Officer at MVTC polling place #3, Gerald Fin Boye, had admitted to FrontPageAfrica that a staff of the National Elections Commission (NEC) did hand a pre-marked ballot paper to a voter during the early hours of voting.
Report by Augustine Tweh, [email protected]
The alarm was raised by a Unity Party supervisor at voting Precinct 130223, Musa Donzo, when a voter was seen with a ballot paper reportedly pre-marked in favor of Senator George Weah of the opposition Coalition for Democratic Change.
“In regard to the report that I gathered from my party’s observers in the various rooms is that early this morning they realized that at MVTC 1, in Room 3, the fourth person that entered in that room to vote had a pre-marked ballot that was issued to him .
“The ballot was mark in favor of George Weah of the CDC”,the Unity Party Supervisor at the precinct told FPA.
Donzo added: “The person responsible for inking said the incident was a mistake, but what baffled me was that the ink on the ballot was in front instead of the back of the ballot paper.”
When contacted, the presiding officer at the precinct admitted that the occurred, but said it was an error.
Presiding Officer Gerald Fin Boye said – “When we all did the checking, they all saw that no ballot paper was marked”.
Also speaking to FPA, officer of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) identified as Clarence Clarke said the incident occurred, but it was brought under control by officers of Liberian National Police, DEA officers, among others.
He said the National Elections Commission (NEC) officials are to blame for the error.
When contacted, one NEC Supervisor at the Precinct declined to comment on the issue.
Meanwhile, the NEC, on its official Facebook page, explained that the ballot paper issuer, while trying to stamp the ballot, mistakenly touched the ink on the paper.
The ballot paper was displayed to all present and marked spoiled and placed in a specified envelope.