Monrovia – The Chairman of the National Election Commission (NEC), Cllr. Jerome Korkoya, has dispelled allegations of that the October 10 elections were rigged, but said the Commission is open for a rerun of the elections if the need be.
Report by Lennart Dodoo, [email protected]
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, Cllr. Korkoya said the NEC will welcome the call for the rerun of the October 10 polls if the Supreme Court order a rerun.
Cllr. Charles Walker Brumskine, standard bearer of the Liberty Party has been calling for a rerun of the elections – calling on the NEC to put a hold to the November 7 runoff election between the Unity Party and the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC).
According to him, the October 10 elections did not meet the minimum standard to be declared free, fair and transparent.
In a formal complaint to the NEC Board of Commissioners, the Liberty Party outlined series of alleged electoral irregularities and fraud that took place during the first round of the election.
While the NEC says it is open for a rerun of the election, Chairman Korkoya disclosed that the Commission, however, does not have funding for the rerun of the election.
He revealed 56 election-related complaints have been filed with the Commission so far of which 33 have been concluded and some are pending appeal before the Board of Commissioners. Fifty-four of the cases were filed at the magistrate level.
Meanwhile, the NEC chairman says mock ballots for the November 7 runoff election are already in the country for training purpose.
He acknowledged irregularities that marred the October 10 elections, but said such were not unique to Liberia.
He said additional queue controllers would be hired by the NEC to avoid congestion at polling places on November 7.
Cllr. Korkoya also encouraged citizens with good numerical skills to apply to serve as poll workers for the November 7 election.