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court cases
The
written court decision on adding several independent candidates on the ballot
papers was delivered to the NEC on
NEC has
been preparing for October 11 elections for many months in the sincere hope
that they would bring a fitting
conclusion to the Accra Peace Process in accordance with the Comprehensive
Peace Agreement.
We are now
analyzing the operational challenges that we are facing in making changes at
this late date.
r Civic and voter
education going strong
The voter education materials received by the NEC
Headquarters in the past two weeks have now reached all counties.
Examples of activities this week from around the
country are; Civic Educators have been disseminating information about the
re-issuing of voter ID cards and the polling process. In Grand Cape Mount, UNDP
sponsored a sensitization program which attracted women’s associations, clan
chiefs, Town Criers and the general public. This event was also aimed at
sensitizing stakeholders on the election procedures. A mock voting exercise was
organized to throw more light on the voting steps. In Margibi, audio cassettes
with jingles and Public Service announcements on voting have been given out to
drivers of commercial vehicles. The drivers of these taxis and mini-buses will
play the tapes for their riders. Community
radio stations in various counties have been supplied with tapes of the
elections focused program, “Dis Voting ting” and have been broadcasting these
for their local communities. Similar activities are being rolled out across the
country on voting and the NEC is working hand in hand with various partners to
educate the electorate.
r security
preparations underway
To ensure that polling is peaceful,
Liberian National Police (LNP) and UNMIL CIVPOL plan to jointly deploy 4,852
LNP and security officers coming from various security agencies in support of
LNP.
Two
Liberian National Police officers will be assigned to each of the 1,421 Voting
Precincts on Polling day. The remaining 2,010 security personnel will come from
various security agencies and UNMIL CIVPOL. They will be supporting the LNP and
undertake routine law enforcement operations in case of any incidents, while
UNMIL Military will be providing general area security.
The LNP Officers will move to the Polling Places with the
electoral materials dispatched for polling. In this way, security will be on
site prior to voters coming to cast their votes.
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deadline extended
for accreditation of representatives
The deadline
for the accreditation of Political Party and Independent Candidate
representatives has been extended by one week, until October 4. These extra 7
days have been put in place to allow time for those representatives who have
not done so, to secure the required accreditation. NEC wants to remind all
parties of the role they and their representatives play in the transparency and
credibility of the process and wishes to include all those who want to
participate.
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nec briefs
domestic observers
The NEC is holding a two-day workshop for domestic observers
on September 29 and September 30. In this workshop, observers have been briefed
on the importance of election observation and also informed on the regulation
on complaints and the relevant procedures. During the workshop, the role and
responsibilities of domestic observers were stressed. Polling, counting and
tally procedures were elaborated on, and NEC provided a simulation of voting
and counting procedures. The Commission is hosting this event in order to equip
domestic observers with all the background information they need to be
effective observers.
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training of
magistrates
A workshop will be held for all NEC County Magistrates at
the NEC tomorrow, Saturday, October 1, starting at
The workshop will cover the complaints and
appeals procedures and the resolution of disputes emanating from political
party and candidate representatives at the polling places. The Magistrates will
also be briefed on the counting and tallying procedures and be given the
opportunity to discuss any other legal matters.
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Summary of
Questions and Answers
Asked to comment on the Supreme Court
ruling on adding the names of several independent candidates on the ballots,
Cllr. Johnson-Morris said NEC has taken steps to comply with the Court’s
ruling. She said NEC has received a letter from the independent candidates’
attorney asking NEC to inform them of specific deficiencies in their
applications. NEC is working towards October 11 elections while seeing how it
would be able to accommodate these candidates.
Concerning whether NEC was embarrassed by
the Supreme Court’s ruling, the Chair said the decision was not an
embarrassment but that it in fact is a setback to the electoral process. She
noted that the CPA is clear that elections are to be held in October and if
there had to be a shift in the election date, the NEC did not have the
authority to make such a decision; the Commission could only hold consultations
with parties to the CPA and the facilitators of the peace process. The Chair
said in the context of the peace agreement, NEC is merely an implementer and
not a party, therefore any alteration that affects the CPA lies outside the
authority of NEC.
Answering a question regarding the
expiration date of the 7-day period given the rejected candidates to correct
deficiencies, the Chair said it was the Supreme Court, not the NEC, which set
these days and the Court was clear in its ruling that this period begins as of
the date of the ruling (September 28).
Responding to a question about what went wrong
during the nomination process that has led to the present situation, the Chair
explained that these independent candidates were disqualified because they did
not meet the criteria set by the Commission within the specified timeframe. She
said the process was guided by various procedures and rules which the NEC had
applied without bias against any candidates.
Asked how and where NEC would print new
ballots if the independent candidates satisfied all requirements and their
names had to be included on the ballots, the Chair said the Commission had no
definite answer at present, as it was still looking into logistical
requirements and other considerations. She however noted, that if it came to a
point that new ballots had to be printed, this would most likely be done at the
same printing site (in Ghana).
Asked whether the NEC would comply if the
Supreme Court issued an injunction against conduct of elections on October 11,
the Chair said she is law-abiding and the NEC believes in the rule of law. She
however noted that the Commission finds itself in a dilemma where it is being
required by the Court to include additional candidates on the ballots, which
might require postponement of elections, while the NEC does not have the
authority to single-handedly change the
October 11 election date.
Concerning whether there has been any
reaction from political parties to the Supreme Court ruling, the Chair said the
NEC held a meeting with political parties during which that issue was
discussed, but no unanimous position was adopted by the parties. She said some
parties favored inclusion of the affected independent candidates on the ballots
while others expressed contrary views.
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