Counting underway in Mid-Term Elections (Elections Round Up)
By The Election Team
MONROVIA Dec 8-Officials from the National Elections Commission –NEC have started counting votes after polling has ended in many of the Voting centers.
A visit to many of the center saw NEC officials watched by candidate representatives as well as both local and international observers.
Senator Dillon
Voting center
On Tuesday, over 2,476,356 registered voters with 2,080 voting precincts in 5,911 polling places in the country to elect 15 senators and two representatives. The two vacant seats for the representatives seat occurred as a result of the death of Montserrado County district nine representative Muna Pehlum and Nagbe Sloh of district number two in Sinoe County, South East. There were 19 political parties that took part in Tuesday’s election, according to NEC.
The elections is going alongside with a national referendum in which the tenure of the presidency will be reduced from six years to five as well as dual citizenship clause. Also, the reduction in the tenure of senators, from nine years to seven as well as representatives from six to five years.
Not only that, but also, the elections timetable in Liberia to be pushed to November of every voting year replacing it from rainy season in October. Opposition parties as well as civil society groups have called for the postponement of the referendum to enable the public have proper education.
Many people said they love the reduction in the tenure of officials as well as dual citizenship Claus.
The most contentious senatorial seat in the election on Tuesday is Montserrado county, which is regarded as the home of the ruling party-CDC. The CDC is feeding a current representatives, Thomas Fallah against Darious Dillon of the Liberty Party who is seen as a serious contender. President George Weah has told his supporters that they want to recapture Montserrado. Many of his supporters have threatened to quit if they the party did not win the seat in Montserrado county.
Rep. Fallah
Violence
Earlier in the week, there was elections violence reported in Grand Cape Mount county in which an opposition candidate of the Collaborating political parties-Simeon Taylor two vehicles were set ablaze by some unknown persons.
President Weah condemned the action calling on the security to do all to arrest the perpetrators.
Deaths:
Earlier in Nimba county, a vote –rich county, five persons were reported dead while travelling in a ferry to vote on the Yarr River.
The accident occurred in Zahn Boyee, Zahn Chiefdom, Nimba County electoral district eight.
According to report, some citizens were crossing from a nearby village to cast their votes in the town, when their ferry capsized. Sources from the town said of the 20 persons on board, five bodies have been recovered so far.
It is the town the controversial Nimba County Senator Prince Yormie Johnson once crossed after a deadly battle during the height of the Liberian civil crisis use to enter Bong County.
Men arrested with voting cards
It was reported on Tuesday that two men were arrested in Sinkor, the suburb of Monrovia by security for possessing one hundred voter ID cards.
President Weah
Trokon Davies and Prince Roberts have been, according to Spoon FM radio reporter. The reporter said he was called by some residents in Sinkor that the two men were distributing voter cards.
The reporter said he was advised by residents to go with police officers who stood from a distance. But upon seeing the police from a distance, the two men decided to run away with the balance cards in a black plastic bag.
According to him, he disguised himself on the advice of the residents and sought the assistance of a police officer.
It is not known which political party the two men are associated with. But when this paper contacted the police station for comment, the spokesman, Moses Carter said they are yet to receive the two men. That details will be given to the media as soon as they are brought to his custody.
It is not known how many cards were distributed before their arrest.
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