MONROVIA – The National Elections Commission (NEC) released 22.33 percent of tallied results from 1,315 out of 5,890 Polling Places across the country on Wednesday evening which shows similar voting pattern witnessed in the first round of the election on October 10.

By Lennart Dodoo, ldodoo@frontpageafricaonline.com

The data currently places opposition candidate Amb. Joseph Boakai in the lead with 193,041 votes (50.71%), while incumbent President George Manneh Weah follows closely with 187,615 votes, representing 49.29 percent of the tallied results thus far.

Weah currently leads in the southeastern counties, including Maryland, Grand Gedeh, Sinoe, Rivergee, Bong, and Grand Bassa. No results were mentioned for Grand Kru County.

On the other hand, Boakai has taken the lead in the vote-rich Montserrado, Nimba, and Lofa Counties. He maintains a competitive lead in the western cluster comprising Grand Cape Mount, Bomi, and Gbarpolu Counties.

The Tuesday runoff election, necessitated by the failure of both Weah and Boakai to secure 50 percent plus one vote in the October 10 presidential and general elections, witnessed a significantly low turnout compared to the initial election.

During Wednesday’s NEC press briefing, Chairperson Davidetta Brown Lansannah stated that while the NEC has 15 days to announce the final results, expedited county result collection could potentially lead to an early announcement of the final results.

Disturbances Reported

The Tuesday runoff election, prompted by the failure of both Weah and Boakai to secure 50 percent plus one vote in the October 10 presidential and general elections, transpired largely under peaceful circumstances. However, there were reports of disturbances in some areas, particularly in Montserrado County.

According to Madam Lansannah, at Sister Kathleen McGuire Catholic School Precinct in Electoral District #6, some citizens damaged one of the rented vehicles, arguing that it was not an NEC vehicle and should not have transported electoral materials to voting centers. Similarly, in Electoral District #12, at the Chicken Soup Factory AGM School, another hired vehicle was prevented from retrieving electoral materials for the same reason. In Electoral District #2 at the MVTC precinct, an electoral supervisor was reportedly attacked and wounded. The police intervened and brought the situation under control, according to Lansannah.

Below is a table of the showing the number of votes and percentages of polling places per county for Weah and Boakai: