Monrovia – The Supreme Court has opined that the National Elections Commission did not violate the New Election Law when it exceeded the stated 3,000 voters per precinct threshold at some voting precincts as complained by the opposition Unity Party.

By Victoria G. Wesseh

In its ruling signed by all the Justices of the Court excluding Associate Justice Jamesetta Wolokollie, the Court on Friday stated “having thoroughly analyzed the facts and reviewed the applicable laws relevant to the issues raised by the parties herein,” it observed that “the wordings of Chapter 4, Section 4.1(2) of the New Elections Law being clear and unambiguous as to the intent of the Legislature, that in instances of difficulties, the National Elections Commission (NEC) to effect the restricted figure of three thousand (3000) voters to a voting precinct, and to avoid voters being deprived of their rights to exercise their franchise, NEC did not violate Section 4.1(2) of the New Elections Law.”

The opposition Unity Party had complained that “The New Election Law of Liberia sets the threshold for precincts at 3,000.00 voters, but this was disregarded by the election governing body of Liberia.”

Based on this, the Unity Party dragged the NEC before the Supreme Court.

The UP’s complaint further mentioned that 93 precincts within nine counties contained more than 3,000.00 voters in a precinct, something they claimed could create precinct overcrowding and long queues, potentially discouraging people from voting.

However, the Supreme Court opined that the National Elections Commission committed no error, therefore, there was no need to issue the Writ of Mandamus filed by the Unity Party.

Counsellors George D. W. Saygbeh, Milton D. Taylor, Moiffie Kanneh, and Cooper W. Kruah represented the Unity Party, while Counsellor Micah Wilkins Wright represented the National Elections Commission.

Chapter 4 Section 1.2 of the 2014 revised National Elections law states that “the number of voters in every precinct shall approximately equal, and unless the Commission in any particular case determines, the number of registered voters in any precinct shall not exceed 3000”.

In a communication to the NEC, the Unity Party highlighted that 93 precincts in nine counties constituting 4.5% of all voting precincts in Liberia have more than 3,000 voters.

Amongst other things, Chapter 4 Section 1.2 also says “The Commission shall determine and publish the location of polling places to serve the voting precincts; the location of a polling place may be changed by the commission if it determines that it is necessary. 

Chapter 4 Section 1.2 of the 2014 revised National Elections law states that “the number of voters in every precinct shall approximately equal, and unless the commission in any particular case determines, the number of registered voters in any precinct shall not exceed 3000”.

In a communication to the NEC, the Unity Party highlighted that 93 precincts in nine counties constituting 4.5% of all voting precincts in Liberia have more than 3000 voters.

Amongst other things, Chapter 4 Section 1.2 also says “The commission shall determine and publish the location of polling places to serve the voting precincts; the location of a polling place may be changed by the commission if it determines that it is necessary. 

Monrovia – FrontPageAfrica has learned from sources within the Supreme Court that the National Elections Commission (NEC) has finally submitted the Final Registration Roll (FRR) for all 15 counties, following an order by Justice in Chambers, Jamesetta Wolokollie.

By Willie N. Tokpah/0777039231

Justice Wolokollie had given the NEC an ultimatum to make the documents available for public inspection at each magisterial office during normal business hours and to provide electoral copies to stakeholders in a secure format by Saturday, September 30, at 4 p.m.

However, FPA has gathered that the NEC presented the FRR on Friday, September 29, at 9:45 p.m., after its request to postpone the presentation of Montserrado County’s FRR was rejected.

The NEC had previously sought an extension for Montserrado County until Tuesday, October 2, but Justice Wolokollie declined the request, compelling the NEC to present all 15 counties on Saturday.

Earlier, the NEC had only presented the FRR for Grand Gedeh County while appealing for a later date to present the remaining FRR.

Some pundits believe that the presentation of the FRR may lead the opposition Unity Party (UP) to raise concerns about further verification and scrutiny of the FRR.

The Unity Party has already expressed concerns about what it calls an increase in the number of registered voters in Montserrado, Margibi, Grand Bassa, and Grand Kru Counties, following the NEC’s cleaning-up process.

Unity Party Secretary-General Amos Tweh informed the media that instead of the FRR decreasing or remaining the same in these counties, it has seen a significant increase, which they attribute to potential electoral fraud.

There are rumors within the Unity Party that there are plans to request a stay order on the upcoming October 10th poll to conduct a thorough verification and scrutiny of the FRR.

Meanwhile, the Unity Party has yet to confirm these rumors, but FPA has gathered that a hearing on the Writ of Mandamus filed by the Unity Party is scheduled for Monday, October 2.

Justice Wolokollie requested a special session for both the Unity Party and the NEC to hear the Writ of Mandamus filed by the UP on Friday, September 29.

The hearing was initially expected to take place before the presiding Justice in the Chamber at 9:00 a.m. at the Temple of Justice. However, FPA was later informed by the court Press Officer that there was no hearing and the case had been rescheduled for Monday, October 2.