Bensonville, Montserrado County – The National Elections Commission (NEC) has begun the process of burning ballot papers and other electoral materials used during the 2014 Special Senatorial Election.
Ceremonies symbolic of the commencement of the burning of the used elections materials took place Friday at the Upper Montserrado County Elections Magisterial Office in Bensonville, where used elections materials from Upper Montserrado County and the NEC Central warehouse were burnt.
Speaking at the ceremony, the Chairman of the NEC, Cllr. Jerome G. Korkoya, said the destruction of the used elections materials was a requirement of Section 4.16 of the New Elections Law of Liberia.
Section 4.16 of the New Elections Law of 1986 states that – “The Commission shall preserve all writs issued for elections and all ballots cast and registered votes made in elections until the validity of such election and its results can no longer be disputed. The Ballot paper may then be burned.”
Chairman Korkoya said Ballot papers from Lofa and Bong Counties will not be burned in the ongoing exercise until the Supreme Court can hand down final ruling into complaints arising from the conduct of the 2014 Elections in these counties.
Ballot papers and other elections materials from the Rivercess County Electoral District Number 2 Representative By-Election will also be burnt during the ongoing exercise.
The destruction of ballot papers and other materials used during the 2014 Elections is also intended to clear the Commission’s ware houses across the country and provide space for the storage of materials for the 2017 Elections.