PHOTO: Cllr. Oscar Bloh, head of the ECC
By Esau J. Farr, esaufarr1980@gmail.com
With presidential and legislative elections less than 10 months away, the Elections Coordinating Committee (ECC) says it welcomes the introduction of biometric voter’s registration system to be used in Liberia, but it has expressed serious reservation over delay in starting the process.
The biometric voter registration should have started since December 15, 2022. But it has been delayed due to confusion within the National Elections Commission (NEC) itself and between NEC and the Public Procurement and Concession Commission (PPCC) over the awarding of contract to a company to print the biometric VR materials. It was just last week that NEC announced the issue has been resolved, setting March 20, 2023 as the new date for the start of the exercise.
In an exclusive interview with www.newspublictrust.com on Wednesday, December 28, 2022 for a special radio program 2023 ELECTIONS UPDATE soon to be starting, the head of the ECC, Cllr. Oscar Bloh said that the idea of transitioning from the manual Voter’s Registration Roll (VR) to the Biometric Voter’s Registration(BVR) System is something that the ECC has in the past advocated for.
Cllr. Bloh maintained that the biometric voter’s registration system will help improve the quality of the electoral system for Liberia’s democracy.
The ECC boss however, expressed concerns over the delay in the commencement of the process and little or no civic and voter education about the new system.
“We have concerns about the delay in starting the process of the proposed biometric voter’s registration system especially for first time voters. The public needs to be informed about the features and requirements of the biometric voter’s registration system which will include fingerprints, age range and others,” the head of the ECC pointed out.
Cllr. Bloh also spoke of the risks associated with potential technical breakdown of equipment to be procured by LAXTON Group, the company hired to provide sensitive materials for the biometric voter’s registration system for the conduct of the 2023 Presidential and Legislative Elections.
The ECC bewailed, if there are breakdowns of some equipment that will be procured for the process midway, it will put the entire process at risk due to slow pace which might extend one activity’s period to another thereby forcing NEC’s staffers and or contractors to be in a hurry or rush to meet up with a set target or goal.
“When people do things in a rush or hurry, the result or outcomes can normally be poor and thereby engender participation and or expected or needed results,” the ECC has also noted.
The ECC hopes that the National Elections Commission, NEC will ensure that a credible final voter’s roll will be produced with no unforeseen circumstances adding, anything to the contrary, it believes could be dangerous and not good for the fragile democracy of the country.
“Procurement is another sticky and very important issue; as it stands, the procurement of sensitive materials is yet to be done, as LAXTON is calling for the graduation or switch away from the use of tablets and computers for the process something the ECC sees as a potential factor and cause for the further delay of the biometric voter registration exercises,” the head of ECC told this news outlet.
Cllr. Bloh lamented that even if the voter’s registration process goes as scheduled to begin from March 20, 2023 to May 11, 2023, it is still very closed to the election date of October 10, 2023, less than five months to the conduct of the Otober 2023 presidential and legislative elections.