Monrovia – Liberia Elections Observation Network (LEON) has called on the government of Liberia to “make sure that funds are available to pay polling staff” and stressed that “delay in the elections, outside the constitutionally permitted timeframe, could have been avoided if the NEC annual budget contained contingency for by-elections”.
LEON head of Secretariat Augustine Tamba wants a contingency budget set aside in the annual budget of the National Elections Commission to address these By-elections to avoid a breach of the Liberian constitution.
He also asserted that campaign activities of candidates have been relatively peaceful with the candidates canvassing for votes in hard to reach places in Montserrado County.
Tamba, who is the immediate past President of the Federation of Liberian Youth said LEON however noticed some incidences of negative campaigning especially when President George Weah told scores of partisans at the CDC Headquarters that the opposition referred to them as coach roaches, and tiny, tiny CDCians, there they should not be voted for.
Speaking earlier, a member of the Stirring committee of LEON, Pilate Johnson lauded the efforts of the candidates for the peaceful campaign activities and expressed gratitude to the voters for the patience.
The body has vowed to observe the by-election with 390 observers around the county, while at the same time commended “voters of the county for their patience in the process and hope that they come out to vote on Monday, July 29.
“We also commend the candidates for their acceptance of the situation despite some having suspicions over the delays. LEON strongly believes that the announcement by the National Election Commission that all names will be called out loudly as voters are identified, will greatly improve transparency and should allay fears,” LEON said in a statement.
The electoral observation organization lauds the candidates for sustaining their campaigns which “have been largely peaceful apart from a few incidents in District #15”.
“LEON calls upon all candidates and their supporters to behave responsibly, refrain from hate speech or incitement, and to maintain the peace over the final weekend campaigns,” the NGO says.
Montserrado, the largest county in Liberia by population, is voting to elect a replacement for the late Hon. Senator Geraldine Doe Sherriff and district 15 of Montserrado is also voting to replace the late Hon. Representative Adolph Lawrence.
Article 37 of the Liberian Constitution provides that the National Election Commission (NEC) should hold elections within 90 days of being informed of a vacancy by the legislature.
The NEC was informed of the Senatorial vacancy on 9 April 2019 and of the Representative vacancy on 28 April 2019 giving the final deadline for the elections to be held as 8 July and 27 July, respectively.
The NEC decided to hold both elections at the same time, on July 2 and published a timetable through its Facebook page.
LEON’s Take On Election Preparations
Candidate nomination was held from 6 to 18 May with seven candidates being registered for each race. There were no disqualifications. Three of the Senatorial candidates and one representative candidate are women.
The ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) commendably decided that it should field a female candidate to replace a female senator.
LEON says the NEC informed it that they wrote to the Government on April 25 requesting US$2.5 million for election expenses. However, this money was not pledged or received in time for the purchase of polling kits and the election was postponed, first to July 8, the last constitutionally allowed date for the Senatorial election.
However, although the ballots and printed forms arrived on time, the polling kits did not, causing a further, indefinite, delay of the election. There was little voter information due to the delay, and printing of accreditation badges for party agents and observers was also halted.
Replacement of lost and stolen cards went ahead from May 20-25 at the county magistrate’s offices, for a fee of $5 per card. Due to low turn up, the Government of Liberia agreed to fund the replacement exercise, as has happened in other elections, and the replacement period was extended by two days with the NEC main building becoming a third venue, more convenient for voters living or working in central Monrovia. The extension caused concern amongst some of the candidates and their parties, especially since 739 people came to have their cards replaced in these two days, almost half of the total number of replacements done in whole.
Some candidates voiced suspicions that CDC had been informed in advance of the new venue and dates and were helping their supporters to come to get new cards. There have even been rumors that new cards were being issued, which has been strongly denied by the NEC.
To counter these accusations the NEC announced on July 22 that it will produce copies of the final voters roll for all interested parties for verification. People who have had their cards replaced should be clearly marked on the roll to prevent the old card being used.
They are also, for the first time, going to call out the name of each voter as they are checked off the roll. This may take additional time but will greatly add transparency. Two of the party agents present in a polling place may stand close to the Voter Identification officer to verify that all is done correctly. LEON welcomes these moves in the face of the suspicions circulating currently.
The polling kits finally arrived in Liberia on July 18. The NEC called a meeting of the candidates the next day and informed them that the election would be held on July 29 and the campaign should finish at midnight on 27th. This leaves the candidates with little time to organize the large-scale rallies with which they like to end their campaigns, particularly since this is Independence Day week.
Candidates and political parties need to inform the NEC and police in advance of a large event to ensure that opposing supporters will not be in the same place at the same time and to ensure security. They also require time to mobilize support. LEON has spoken to a number of the contestants, most of whom have complained about this. However, all have accepted the outcome for the good of the elections.
Since the NEC is now outside of its planned timetable, LEON has not been able to observe training of polling staff, which was originally meant to start in early July. The NEC has stated in it press conference of 22 July, that it still does not have money to pay polling staff, and this could affect staff’s commitment to their work.
The candidates have been generally understanding of the delays despite the constitutional issues, for the good of the electoral process. A few have voiced suspicions that they delays are an attempt to defraud the elections without being specific as to how this might be. LEON observers have found that voters and civil society organizations, by comparison, generally believe in the neutrality and capacity of the NEC.
Voters have remained calm, with LEON LTOs reporting that the environment around Montserrado has been generally peaceful despite the delays, the Council of Patriots protest and several student marches. LEON notes that some voters came to the vote on the morning of 8 July without realizing that the election had been postponed.
Other voters reported that they heard of the postponement by word of mouth or from the parties and not through any public service announcements made by the NEC. From the time of the first delay the NEC has issued only 3 press statements, however, it has held a number of meetings with candidates and political parties.
Voter education has not been widespread, in part again to the delays. The NEC put up some posters in early June and sample ballots have been distributed more recently. Traditional Leaders, CSOs and religiously leaders have also been active in the communities. This is particularly important in the more rural districts where people have less access to social media and radio.
How Has the Campaign Gone?
All of the Senatorial candidates have been observed campaigning vigorously and have sustained their campaigns throughout the lengthened period.
LEON says its observers have noticed flyers, small posters, and billboards in almost all of the districts as well as drive-bys and door-to-door campaigning.
Paulita Wie, Darrius Dillon, Macdella Cooper and Kimmie Weeks have been going from district to district holding small meetings to discuss their platforms.
In district 15, Telia Urey, Abu Kamara, and Amos Tubor have all held small scale meetings.
Large rallies have been conducted by CDC, Kimmie Weeks, Telia Urey, and Darius Dillon. LEON observers noted that candidates were all being allowed to assemble and campaign freely and we have had no reports of harassment or intimidation of any candidate by the police or government.
Issues of youth and women are high on the platform of most of the candidates, especially the females, and almost all of the campaign messages bring in concerns of persons with disabilities and minority groups.
Most candidates have been using social media to inform their supporters and to encourage them to vote. They have mostly been restrained from posting negative information about other candidates except in the case of District #15, where some of the candidates have attacked Abu Kamara about his honesty following recent revelations in the press.
There were a few other incidents of negative campaigning. On June 22, 2019, CDC had a very large rally at its headquarters to launch both their senatorial and representative candidates.
What Has LEON Done In Election Observation?
Launched in May 2017, LEON is a platform of four Liberian Civil Society Organizations: The Catholic Justice and Peace Commission (JPC), Liberia Crusaders for Peace (LCP), Federation of Liberia Youth (FLY) and National Union of Organizations for the Disabled (NUOD) with the goal to meaningfully contribute to democratization processes in Liberia.
It observed the 2017 elections with over 1000 observers and has observed subsequent by-elections.
The network of civil society groups says it has a core team in Monrovia and observers stationed in all 73 electoral districts of Liberia, and it is prepared to observe the impending Montserrado County’s by-elections and at the same time advocating on electoral reform issues.