Davidetta Brown-Lansanah, the chairperson of the National Elections Commission (NEC), has accused some political parties and candidate agents assigned at the Montserrado County tally center of causing tensions to disrupt the process whenever the numbers are unfavorable.
“They unplugged our projectors, parading all over the place, and saying that this thing will not happen today,” Lansanah said. “We have had to call the Ministry of Justice through the Liberia National Police to bolster security there and ensure that all who went to the tally center, including the staff of NEC, should wear their tags so that we can identify those who are coming in, including observers.”
According to her, due to the disruption, the commission lost more than three hours on both October 12, and October 13, as the process was halted for two hours.
“Members of the press, as the tally process continues, the commission continues to face challenges with the actions of some representatives of political parties and candidates who intermittently disrupt the process whenever they disagree on any issue,” she disclosed yesterday at the commission’s weekly press briefing.
Tallying is a part of the electoral process and begins after the Tamper-Evident Envelopes (TEEs) arrive at the Commission’s magisterial offices from voting precincts with the presence of agents from political parties and candidates.
Electoral magistrates are responsible for organizing the tally in their respective magisterial areas. The magistrate will monitor the tally to ensure that proper procedures are followed at all times.
The disruption, according to the head of Lansanah, has “caused the commission and the nation valuable time and created unnecessary tension at the Montserrado County Tally Center.”
“You know, in everything we do, there are procedures. The records of the count have a procedure for arriving at all the numbers that are there. The problem some of the party agents deal with is that when these numbers are favorable to them, they allow the process to go on, but when the numbers are not favorable to them, they disrupt the process.
And they bring all kinds of technicality,” Lansanah added.”They do not want to accept that we have a procedure to arrive at the numbers on the record of the count, and the record of the count shows votes that were obtained by the candidates but shows the reconciliation of the ballots. So there is a procedure they need to follow.”
The Commission calls on political parties and candidates to ensure that their representatives at the tally center remain civil and make use of the law by documenting whatever complaints they have using the complaint form available at the tally center.
Additionally, the Commission has disclosed that polling was conducted in the five precincts in Sinoe County on October 12, completing the conduct of elections in 81 precincts in Sinoe County.
“The commission is pleased to inform Liberia that polling was conducted in the outstanding precincts in Sinoe County on October 12, completing the conduct of elections in 81 precincts in Sinoe County.”
Source: Liberian Observers
