“I Demand Apology And Facts And Proof”
PHOTO: Rep. Grand Bassa District # 4 Vincent Willie
By Our Staff Writer
Grand Bassa County District #4 Representative Vincent Willie, who is running for re-election, has challenged credibility of the latest report from the Elections Coordinating Committee (ECC) that he is allegedly involved in “massive voter trucking” which is violation of the elections law.
In its report released this week (March 28, 2023, Liberia’s largest elections observation group said: “ECC observer reported that representative Vincent Willy of Grand Bassa electoral district 4 trucked citizens to the district to get registered. According to the observer, this incident targeted many centers within the electoral district as the lawmaker dropped off citizens at a central location, who then made their way to different centers within the district.”
According to Article 77 of the Liberian constitution “every Liberian citizen not less than 18 years of age, shall have the right to be registered as a voter and to vote in public elections and referenda under this Constitution.” And the new election law says citizens above 18 shall register to vote in the places they ordinarily reside.
But in a phone interview with www.newspublictrust.com today, Thursday, March 30, Rep. Willie expressed shock and said the ECC report was a fabrication, because has not been in Grand Bassa County since March 19 and he has himself not yet registered to vote.
Insisting that he has no need to truck voters, the Grand Bassa County Lawmaker is demanding a retraction from the ECC or he will officially write the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) which is supporting and funding the ECC.
“I Demand apology and facts and proof,” the Representative from the Wee Statutory District area stressed.
Rep. Willie is also threatening to take legal action against the elections observation group for allegedly tarnishing his reputation and standing as a lawmaker who has distinguished himself over the years.
In its report, the ECC also claimed that its observers have reported “massive voter trucking by aspirants, some of which include students who are primarily first-time voters. Incidents of voter trucking reported”. Besides Grand Bassa County, the election watchdog group named two other counties—Margibi and Gbarpolu.