MONROVIA – The Chairperson of the National Elections Commission, Davidetta Brown Lansanah, has confirmed that the Commission has secured nearly all the necessary funds to conduct a potential presidential runoff election.
By: Gerald C. Koinyeneh – [email protected]
With 99.97 percent of the total votes counted, none of the presidential candidates managed to attain the required 50 percent plus one vote to avoid a runoff. As things stand, the votes are divided between the incumbent, George Weah, and his main rival, Joseph Nyumah Boakai.
The NEC’s latest provisional results show President Weah with a narrow lead of 803,956 votes, representing 43.84 percent of the total votes tallied, while Ambassador Boakai closely follows with 796,513 votes, accounting for 43.34 percent. The two heavyweights have already begun preparing for an impending runoff, referred to as “The Clash of the Titans.”
In response to questions about the budget for the runoff and the NEC’s preparations for securing the funds, Chairperson Lansanah stated that although she couldn’t provide the exact figure during the press conference, she is confident that the NEC has received almost all the necessary funds to conduct a potential runoff.
“I need to look at the budget to know what is in there for the runoff because it is not in front of me now. But I can assure you that we have received 99.9 percent of the money needed to conduct a runoff, if there will be a runoff,” she said.
In the lead-up to the October 10 polls, the NEC had expressed concerns about the inadequate funding for a possible runoff if the election was not won in the first round. In August, Chairperson Lansanah informed the Liberian Senate that the funding shortfall was due to the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning providing $3 million less than the amount required by the NEC. She had conveyed that a runoff election could only take place if the Ministry of Finance disbursed the remaining $3.2 million, as the Ministry had remitted slightly over $49 million of the $53 million budget approved by the legislature.
She said back then, “Regarding the availability of funds for a potential runoff, I must say no, as we still require the remaining $3.2 million to reach the $53 million budget for the elections.”
However, during the press briefing, she confidently declared that the funds are now available. She also disclosed that preparations are underway for the rerun at two polling places in District #4, Nimba County today.
Over the past weekend, the NEC had announced that ballot boxes in Nimba County were stolen from the magistrate’s office in the county, with the stolen boxes containing votes cast for representatives at a precinct in Beo Lonto Public School with code 33258 in the district.
She mentioned that the police have arrested several individuals in connection with the theft, while some are still at large. Those arrested, she said, have been charged with obstruction of government functions, criminal mischief, theft of property, and tampering with public records.