Monrovia – Two hours before the polls closed on Tuesday, only 39 of the 396 voters at Gbokolleh Public School in Bentol had voted in the Senatorial by-election.
Report by Bettie K. Johnson-Mbayo, [email protected]
At the Salvation Army School Inc. in Chocolate City (District 13), 191 of the 2,046 registered voters at four polling stations had cast votes.
The scenes at these two polling places played out at most voting sites in Montserrado and Bong counties where citizens went to the polls to elect two senior senators to replace President George Manneh Weah and Vice President Jewel Howard Taylor.
Election observers and poll watchers from the National Election Commission (NEC) said the senatorial by-election was marred by low voter turnout. Voters sailed through the process because there were no long lines. In some places, poll watchers said they went several hours without getting a single voter.
Some citizens said they stayed home because they are unhappy about the economic situation in the country and they don’t trust the electoral process. They don’t feel that their voice matters at the ballot box.
Others said they were concerned that two of the leading candidates—Representatives Saah Joseph, of District 13 and Marvin Cole, who were elected during the October 2017 elections, were running for the Senate.
At a time when the country is crying that the coffers are empty and President Weah has asked citizens to be patient, why would the government want to create vacant seats in the house that would require another election?
“I am totally against sitting representative contesting this election,’’ said Mohammed “They just want to keep suppressing the country and bringing down the economy.’’
Isaac Ballah voted at Demonstration School on Clay Street, District 8, Montserrado County.
“I won’t vote for any sitting representative because the President said the country is pro-poor and he met the country broke and things are hard, Ballah said. “Look at people conditions in the country? We can’t have another by-election because someone wants more money.”
Moni Paich, a trader at the Nancy B. Doe Market in Sinkor said, “I am not voting today because when you vote them and they get in power they don’t know you any longer, so the best thing to do is stay away from voting, that’s the only way they will know our importance.”
Despite concerns about conditions in the country, Ballah and others refused to stay home on Tuesday. They had to make their voices heard at the polls.
Mark Smith, another voter at Demonstration School, said he was disappointed by the low turnout, but he had to exercise his constitutional right to vote.
Ophelia Sagbeh was excited when she walked into Demonstration School with her bag of vegetables that she had bought from the market. ‘’I came to vote,’’ she announced to a group of poll watchers and election observers.
Sagbeh said she voted for Rep. Saah Joseph because of his contribution during the Ebola crisis in 2014.
Gbessy Zinnah also voted for Joseph at Demonstration School because ‘’he saved my sister’s life during the Ebola crisis.’’
“My sister was on her deathbed and everyone ran away from us,’’ she said. He (Saah Joseph) was the one who came and took her to the treatment center. I can’t vote another person. That will be wickedness on my part.”
Patricia Lisa, 27 years, lives next to the polling station at Gbokolleh School in Bentol. She watched voters trickle in, but she decided not to vote. She stayed home to care for her 3-year-old child.
She said the two sitting lawmakers—Joseph and Marvin Cole in Bong should not be in the race. They should think about the economic situation in the country instead of their own interests.
Dalton Stanley, 32, a young man who hangs out in downtown Monrovia, said Liberia needs to pass a law banning incumbent representative from contesting for the Senate. If they want to run for the Senate, they should resign.
Stanley is a strong supporter of the ruling party, but he said he disagrees with the party for allowing representative Saah Joseph, District 13 and Marvin Cole, District 3, Bong County, to contest in the by-election.
That is greediness,’’ Stanley said. “I am a Cdician but I don’t like the way the party is behaving. I like Saah Joseph, but not as a senator. He and (Marvin Cole) want the country to go backward. If the president said the country is broke, why do you want representatives to be in a race that could result in another by-election.