9th Street Sinkor, Monrovia, Liberia: December 6, 2022: The freeness, fairness and credibility of any electoral process is mostly hinged on the accuracy and transparency with which the electoral participants are registered. Liberians have therefore pinned their hopes on the National Elections Commission (NEC) to put into place all of the mechanisms, especially the Voter Registration exercise, that would lead to the conduct of free, fair and credible presidential and legislature elections on October 10, 2023, despite the enormity of operational and transparency challenges that have beset the Commission in recent times, However, Liberians got the shock of their lives on Monday, December 5, 2022 when the NEC issued a jaw-dropping press statement affirming the public’s suspicions that all is not right with the electoral process. According to the NEC, the previously announced 15 December 2022 date set for the start of the voter registration is being adjusted to a later unknown date. As the Analyst reports, this latest development has left the public to opine that if things are carefully handled at the Commission, such abrupt delays might cause a ripple effect that could cascade into a serious constitutional crisis.
In its terse press statement, the national electoral body failed to provide any hint of a new date for the postponed December 15 Voter Registration but assured that it is developing a new timeline detailing the voter registration schedule, which will be communicated to the public in the soonest possible time.
“The NEC assures the Liberian people that the 2023 electoral process is on course and the Commission remains committed to conducting free, fair and credible elections on 10 October 2023,” the statement concluded.
The VR commencement postponement comes in the wake of serious operational glitches with the selection of a competent and qualified firm to carry out the proposed biometric registry scheme that the Commission chose for the 2023 presidential and general elections.
After months of back-and-forth hauling and pulling between the NEC and the PPCC over the selection of a reputable firm that roll out the biometric VR process, the NEC finally settled last week on LAXTON, following the disqualification of Ekemp that won the last bid amid a host of controversies.
But the LAXTON group selection by the NEC and the PPCC has caused another uproar within the NEC, as one of the Commissioners, Cllr. P. Teplah Reeves, says the selection of LAXTON was fraught with conflicting operational issues that could cause glitches in terms of service delivery.
Against the backdrop of these deepening controversies over the biometric voter ID process, Grand Bassa County Senator and Liberty Party Standard Bearer Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence is on record for calling for the NEC Chair Davidetta Browne-Lansanah to step down.
In a petition presented to the Commission, Senator Lawrence outlined many of the mishaps that have marred the electoral process, placing the blame squarely at the doorstep of Chairman Lansanah. Lawrence particularly recalled the NEC Chair’s alleged involvement in the procurement of 20 thermometers at $9,166 each in 2021, although the market value of a thermometer is valued at $500.
Public Reactions
A good number of Liberians, voicing their concerns over the NEC postponement of the VR commencement, are visibly worried over the Commission’s ability to conduct free, fair and credible elections in 2023 given all of the bludgeoning issues.
Liberians are in fact worried whether NEC has been living up its electoral timeline, not only the December 15, 2022 deadline for commencement of the VR.
Did the consultation on development of VR data privacy and protection regulations start on May 23, 2022 in accordance with the NEC stipulated electoral activities timeline?
Did the CSOs/CBOs accreditation for the VR process start on August 22, 2022? Did the publication of voter registration regulations start on August 31? How about the validation of admin units and amalgamation areas listing/boundaries, did that process commence on September 8, 2022?
Did accreditation of party agents, media and observers begin on October 5, 2022? Did the publication of VR centers commence on October 23, 2022, in line with NEC’s own timeline?
These are some of the hard questions that Liberians have been asking since the National Elections Commission abruptly announced yesterday the postponement of the VR commencement.
“Rigging has been put into motion. The opposition better act to put a stop to this asap,” says Varflay Kollie, a concerned citizen.
“Can NEC do voter registration without census data? Are we using the same electoral districts from 14 years ago? Something has to change fast,” maintains Busheben Keita.
“Of course, I see a constitutional crisis looming. Maybe Weah is not sure of a second term victory in 2023 so he’s working with his stooges at NEC to create these bottlenecks that will lead to a crisis that could demand outside intervention,” says Samson Diggs.
