By our Reporter
The National Elections Commission (NEC) has responded to questions raised by the ruling Unity Party (UP) and others about flaws in the national voter roll, with NEC Chairman Jerome Korkoya assuring that “all 2.1 million registered voters can be accounted for on the final voter roster.”
Addressing a news conference in Monrovia on Wednesday, Korkoya said his commission has done everything to ensure that the final voter roster is credible and there should be no doubt about that.
On Monday, UP presidential candidate and incumbent Vice President Joseph Boakai raised questions about the voter roll.
He joined ranks with the Liberty Party and others in calling on NEC to probe allegations of fraud and demanding publication of the final national voter roll and special precincts.
On concerns raised about more than the required number of people voting at some polling centers, the NRC boss explained that there is a maximum of 500 persons registered at a polling center.
But the number at some centers may be little higher to accommodate with observers and others assigned at those voting centers who had to vote there because of their various assignments.
If anyone having evidence otherwise, he however said they should come forward with it.
Chairman Korkoya also addressed question about the huge number of invalid votes recorded in the October 10 presidential and legislative elections, which NEC put at some 88,000.
He urged the media to assist NEC in informing the Liberian public that invalid votes are not primarily due to lack of adequate voter/civic education or ignorance of people.
According to him, some people (voters) just decided to deliberately disfigure of photos of some candidates by bursting their eyes or engaging in other “mischief” with the ballot papers while in the voting booth.
For example, he said, instead of some voters marking the X or check mark in the space before the names and parties of the candidates of their choice, they wrote “look beautiful…it’s our time” on the ballot paper.
The NEC Chairman further explained that other voters were just confused over the large number of candidates in the October 10 elections. Twenty presidential candidates contested the polls, while in the legislative race, the number of contenders in one district were up to 28.
In other instances, Korkoya disclosed to Journalists that other voters didn’t even mark anything at all, making such ballots invalid.
In another development, NEC has said it’s not aware of any presidential candidate wanting to serve as poll watcher in the upcoming November 7 runoff election.
The main opposition Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) said recently that its candidate George Weah will be one of the party’s poll watchers on November 7.
But Korkoya told Journalists Monday that his Commission has not received any request from any party for that.
He said if such a request comes they will look into it but added,“we have not had that experience here.”
Ballots for the two-horse race runoff polls are due to arrive in Liberia by the weekend, the NEC Chairman disclosed.