“Desist With Immediate Effect”

As the conduct of the presidential runoff election continues, the National Elections Commission (NEC), has called on all poling staff involved in calling out voters’ names to desist with immediate effect.

In a recent NEC release, the Commission says it has come to its attention that some party agents are demanding the polling staff to read out the names of voters prior to voting so that the voter is identified in Final Registration Roll (FRR) in the possession of party agents.

According to NEC, the act is against the polling and counting procedures, and it has the propensity to expose voters to undue scrutiny by unauthorized persons, thereby jeopardizing the protection of the voters.

NEC says it also compromises the secrecy of the vettingprocess.  With this- the Commission calls on all poling staff involved in calling out voters’ names to desist with immediate effect.

“The Commission categorically denies and rejects reports that it has signed an MoU with political parties in this Presidential Run-off Election relative to the calling of voters’ names and checking their names against the copy of the FRR issued to political parties as this practice is against the NEC polling and counting procedures.”

In a related development, the Commission says that rumors circulating on social media that pre- marked ballots were discovered in Foya is fake news and a disinformation campaign intended to undermine the electoral process and discourage Liberians rom turning out to vote.

“The Commission emphatically says that it did not issue any instruction to pre-mark ballots for the ongoing Presidential Run-off Election. All NEC ballots deployed to the magisterial offices and onward to the 2,080 precinct and 5,890 polling places remained intact for deployment for polling on 14 November 2023.”

Moreover, the Commission calls on all political party agents, electoral actors and stakeholders to desist from getting involved in illegal and disinformation campaign that have the propensity to not only undermine the credibility of the electoral process but to even threaten the peace and stability of Liberia.

“The NEC temporary staff conducting the polls is instructed to remain within the scope of the procedures they learned during their training for the Presidential Run-off Election.”

Wilson