No Outright Winner In October 10 First Round Of Voting–NEC’s Latest Results Show
By Our Staff Writer
With 99.93% of the total valid presidential votes tallied, neither incumbent President George Manneh Weah nor Joseph Boakai of the main opposition UP has been able to reach the 50% plus one vote required by the Liberian constitution to get a first-round victory.
On Wednesday, October 18, 2023, the Chairperson of the National Elections Commission (NEC) said progressive consolidated tallied results put Weah at 43.84%, while Boakai follows with 43.44.
Coming third is Edward Appleton of the Grassroots Democratic Movement (GDM) with 2.20%, according to the 8th batch of progressive tallied results announced by NEC.
Neither President Weah nor former Vice President Boakai has reacted to the latest results from NEC, which means they’ll again have to face each other in a second round, something President Weah and his CDC had emphatically declared won’t happen.
The requirement for a second round is stipulated in Article 83 of Liberia’s 1986 constitution.
“Article 83 a. Voting for the President, Vice-President, members of the Senate and members of the House of Representatives shall be conducted throughout the Republic on the second Tuesday in October of each election year.
b. All elections of public officers shall be determined by an absolute majority of the votes cast. If no candidate obtains an absolute majority in the first ballot, a second ballot shall be conducted on the second Tuesday following. The two candidates who received the greatest numbers of votes on the first ballot shall be designated to participate in the run-off election.”
In the October 10, 2023 presidential polls, 19 opposition politicians challenged Weah’s second term bid.
