Monrovia – Charlyne Brumskine, the daughter of the founding father of the Liberty Party (LP) the late Charles W. Brumskine, says there is a strong possibility that the special senatorial election slated for December 8, 2020, would be marred by frauds.
“We in the CPP, particularly the Liberty Party, are ensuring that we do everything we can right now to mitigate and minimize fraud because I believe that there are going to be some frauds in the upcoming senatorial elections,” Miss Brumskine said.
The late Cllr. Brumskine’s daughter made the assertion late Friday evening when she served as a guest on the “Spoon Talk”, a live podcast hosted by the Chief Executive Officer of Spoon Network, Santon Witherspoon, Sr.
Amid the 2017 general and presidential elections, her father, Cllr. Brumskine, then the standard-bearer of Liberty Party took the National Elections Commission (NEC) to court on the ground of electoral irregularities.
Miss Brumskine says one of the main issues the Liberty Party put forth against the NEC after the first round of the 2017 Presidential Election was to clean the voters’ roll. She added that the voters’ roll has not been cleaned since 2017 elections.
“When the 2017 election court case came about, when the ruling came down, it was clear that there were some fraud and the justice did not deny that there were some frauds in the election,” she said.
“We in the CPP, particularly the Liberty Party, are ensuring that we do everything we can right now to mitigate and minimize fraud because I believe that there are going to be some frauds in the upcoming senatorial elections.”
– Charlyne Brumskine
She added: “One of the things that have to be done is to clean the voter role. And make sure that the frauds perpetrated in 20217 do not recur.
“The question is have we cleaned the voters roll? No! Can we do it as a private institution? No! The government must clean the voters’ roll.
“The government must ensure that there is no duplication of voters’ card and voters’ number. It is something that CPP has raised the alert, we have talked about it.”
It re can recalled that Montserrado County Senator, Abraham Darius Dillon (Liberty Party) who would be seeking re-election on December 8 in mid-July threatened that President George Weah’s tenure would end abruptly should the ruling party attempt tampering with the results of the Special Senatorial Elections.
Senator Dillon made the comments on the 50-50 Talk Show on Sky FM. She said, watchers from the Collaborating Political Parties (CPP) would announce the unofficial results from the tally sheets of the National Elections Commission immediately after tallying.
“George Weah and his gang will understand that we’re not taking this for joke. When the people wake up in the morning and go to express their right for their choice, it must be respected, any attempt, it would be the immediate end of the George Weah and the CDC administration from December this year.”
Sen. Dillon further emphasized: “There are some people who’re not talking at all, they’re only waiting to speak on December 8 and you deprive them, you’ll know what kind of fire all of us can warm ourselves with.”
When contacted for clarification on his statement, Sen. Dillon told FrontPageAfrica that his comment is for call for
free, fair and transparent and anything less would be totally unacceptable.
Meanwhile, the National Elections Commission is expected to commence the Voter Roll Update (VRU) on September 1 and would run through the September 15.
The chairperson of the NEC, Madam Davidetta Brown-Lansanah, disclosed early this month that the VRU process would be mobile, which means the Commission’s team of registrars would move from one center to another, covering the 2080 registration centers across the country.
Each team, led by a supervisor, will comprise of registrar, clerk, shader, and photographer. These teams will cover a maximum of four centers and will stay three days at each location, she disclosed.
“We have completed the assessment of all 2080 precincts or voting centers throughout the country. This is a cardinal preparatory requirement to the entire election process. We have made the necessary changes and approval of the centers for the conduct of the mobile registration.
“Let me emphasize that some of the structures used as centers during the 2017 registration have been changed and renamed. However, as per our normal procedure, the new centers are within the same localities. The Commission will duly inform citizens of the 2080 registration centers to be used during this 2020 VRU.”
Later, Madam Brown Lansanah told journalists that the NEC Training Section has completed the development of the VRU Training Procedures Manual.
Importantly, the current manual captures all necessary coronavirus Health Protocols, as mandated by the National Public Health Institute of Liberia and ECOWAS. This has paved the way for the training of thousands of temporary election staffs across the country, she added.
“Prior to the outbreak of the coronavirus, we, along with UNDP, oversaw a dialogue whereby the political parties deliberated and finalized the Political Parties Code of Conduct,” she said disclosing that NEC has completed inspection of all political parties’ headquarters.