Monrovia – FrontPageAfrica has reliably learned that recount of votes in Nimba County District #4 disputed legislative elections suffers a setback over the weekend when incumbent lawmaker Garrison Yealue boycotted the process due to suspected foul play on the part of the election magistrate.
Report by Kennedy L. Yangian [email protected]
Former lawmaker Yealue told FrontPageAfrica Monday, March 5, 2018 that he and his supporters had gone to the district with the aim of participating in the recount of votes by the National Elections Commission (NEC) on March 3, 2018.
Yealue claimed that in a recent ruling by the Supreme Court in the election case over an alleged election malpractices carried out in favor of his rival Gunpue Kargon a representative candidate of the Movement for Democracy and Reconstruction (MDR), NEC was mandated by the high court to conduct a re-examination of tally sheet in polling center #1, Preccinct #33105 in Kpaglay Beo-Borgarplay District.
He said NEC was ordered by the high court to ensure that all of the parties are present at the inspection and examination of the raw data tally sheet and the parties should be accorded the opportunity to challenge any aspect of the re-examination process including the raw data that the election magistrate relied upon to effect a change in the vote reported at the Kpaglay polling center.
Yealue alleged that two unidentified persons claiming to be NEC officers announced to the parties that they have come to carry out the re-examination of tally sheets in Kpaglay.
He said the election magistrate in the district, Princeton Monmia, refused to open the box which contained the ballot papers instead he decided to use the old tally sheet record which he has accused the election magistrate of tempering with by changing the result in favor of his rival Kargon.
“We could not participate in the process that was quiet different from what the Supreme Court has requested NEC to do,” said Yealue, who has vowed to file a bill of information to the Supreme Court about the conduct of the recount.
Monmia denied the lawmaker’s allegation and claimed that NEC Chairman Jerome Kokoyah changed the district legislative result after he had informed him that there was fraud discovered in the result from one of the polling places.
Henry Floma, NEC Director of Communication, refused to comment on the matter until the election magistrate can make former his report.