In the ongoing Liberian presidential election, the two main candidates, George Weah and Joseph Boakai, continue to be in a close race. However, with 98.50% of the ballots counted, it is clear that a runoff will be required, expected to take place at the beginning of November.
According to the latest results announced by the National Elections Commission (NEC), George Weah has secured 43.79% of the votes, closely followed by Joseph Boakai with 43.49%.
The results are too tight to declare a winner in the first round. According to the Electoral Code, a candidate needs to obtain at least 51% of the votes to win in the initial round.
Incidents
During a press briefing on Tuesday, Davidetta Browne-Lansana, the Chairperson of the NEC, mentioned that there were missing ballots due to what she claimed to be the destruction of ballot boxes.
On Friday, this official had reported an incident in Saino County where result reports were stolen, leading to the arrest of suspected individuals.
These incidents seem to be delaying the overall announcement of results, keeping the nation in suspense for the past few days. As a result, the ECOWAS observation mission issued a statement calling for calm and urging political parties to refrain from prematurely announcing results to reduce tensions surrounding the National Elections Commission.