As Biometric Voter Registration Sets In
PHOTO: Dep. Com Gen. LIS Moses Yebleh and NEC Commissioner, Ernestine Morgan-Awar
By Augustine Octavius, augustineoctavius@gmail.com
The first phase of the Biometric Voter Registration, which started on Monday, covers two counties bordering neighbouring West African countries—Grand Cape Mount and Gbarpolu counties. The other four counties in phase one which ends on April 9, 2023 are Montserrado, Grand Bassa, Margibi and Bomi.
With the start of the process, the Liberia Immigration Service (LIS) is warning politicians, who are having relatives residing across the boundaries and wishing to participate in the October 10, 2023 presidential and legislative elections, to begin coming in the country now as the LIS will not allow trucking of voters during the election period.
Section 3. 1 of the New Elections Law of Liberia says:
“A person must register to vote at a voter registration center established by the NEC for the place where he or she ordinarily resides and must vote at the polling place established by the NEC for voters registered at that center.”
LIS Deputy Commissioner General for Administration, Moses Yebleh, disclosed that stringent measures will be put in place purposely to ensure that high standard of fairness, transparency and credible process during this year’s elections.
Commissioner Yebleh gave the warning when he spoke at the opening a round table discussion organized by the LIS in collaboration with the International Organization , the United Nations Development Program and the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights in Monrovia over the weekend.
According to him, ten of the tribes spoken in Liberia are also in neighboring countries and as such, some West African nationals and politicians will like to abuse the free movement in the West African region.
Commissioner Yebleh clarified that the measures are in no way intended to deprive legitimate Liberians the rights to participate in the elections, but it is intended avoid the replica of the violence in Grand Cape Mount County
“Voters trucking, we are talking about, is not basically only in the Monrovia area because we know that the Liberia National Police will be heavily concentrated on that,” he said; adding: “ from the LIS prospective and experience, we had voters trucking in the past in Grand Cape Mount County and we knew what it resulted to.”
Participants pose for a group photo following the opening ceremony
He said because of the porous nature of the borders with neighboring countries, politicians , who have friends and relatives across these boundaries have succeeded in trucking voters in the past and some are still thinking that they will succeed this time.
“One of the major things that can bring chaos during election period is voters trucking especially across from the border and the LIS have been facing challenges from politicians accusing us of preventing their supporters from entering the country. We need to start this conversation early enough so that Liberians who are residing in these neighboring countries and are interested in the electoral process, to start taking the right steps,” said deputy LIS Commissioner Yebleh.
In remarks, the Commissioner at the National Elections Commission, Ernestine Morgan-Awar, said trucking voters during elections constitutes a violation of the law and it should be discouraged.
According to her, violators of electoral laws including candidates, who is caught in voters trucking, rick prosecution if any evidence is produced.
“Voter trucking is one of the indicators that can cause elections violence and a recipe for disaster in any given society,” she said; noting: “our law is clear that voters trucking violates the electoral laws in the country.”
She said NEC does not stand alone when it comes to combating voter trucking because it cross cut with agencies in mitigating this menace in the electoral process.
“We need to work together in order to put in place the structure that will help curb the voters trucking in our electoral systems.”
For his part, the Assistant Minister for Justice and Codification, Abraham Mitchell, said voters trucking undermines the legitimacy of those who will be elected under such fraudulent manner
According to him, the Liberian code of conduct criminalizes the trucking of voters from community to another; regrettably, the code of conduct cannot serve as a legal instrument to prosecute those who will be found in trucking voters
Also speaking, Minister of Internal Affairs, Varney Sirleaf, called for collective efforts in combating voters trucking, in order to have credible elections.
According to him, the role of the LIS is critical in determining who is qualified as Liberian to vote in this elections.
He re-affirmed the commitment of President George Weah for the National Elections Commission to conduct a free, fair and transparent election in the country.
The Country Representative of the International Organization for Migration was represented Project Coordinator of the IOM, Serge Desiree.
The discussion, held under the theme: “Preventing Voters Trucking To promote Election Integrity and Democracy of the Peace Building Project Entitled- Promoting Peaceful Electoral Environment and Community Security in Liberia.” It brought together representatives from the civil society organizations, women and student groups, the Liberia National Police, the Liberia Drug Law Enforcement Agency, among many others.