Liberia concludes presidential run-off voting as counting commences

Liberia's run-off presidential election came to a close on Tuesday evening at the official time of 6 p.m. local time without any incidence, thanks to the vigilance of the security forces of the UN mission and local police. Votes counting has commenced in most of the polling places throughout the country and unofficial results are expected to be announced by various radio stations from the correspondents in the field. The National Election Commission (NEC) will tally and collate the ballots before releasing the results in segments. Many voters had feared the election will not go ahead after Monday's demonstration by the main opposition party, Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) that took the life of one person and several wounded followed by disrupted commercial activities in the capital, Monrovia. About 2.5 million registered voters were Tuesday expected to take part in the West African country's run-off presidential elections, its second democratic election The process began slowly in a calm atmosphere despite Monday's disruption by CDC. At the start of voting in the early hours of Tuesday, there was a low turn-out in most of the polling precincts visited. This was blamed on the previous night's warnings by partisans of the CDC from house to house threatening repercussion if people went to the polls. Most of the people said they were afraid to venture outside for safety reasons. "I want to exercise my franchise but equally so, I have concerns for the safety of myself and my children," says the 65- year-old mother, Mary Dokie. Some landlords favoring the CDC whose premises were used during first round voting refused to allow the National Election Commission (NEC) access to their facilities, exacerbating the problem. A voter who registered at the Isaac McCauley High School had to go some 200 km to Boatswain High School polling center to vote because the proprietor denied NEC access to his building. The proprietor, John McCauley, a member of the CDC who failed to secure a CDC symbol to contest the election told journalists he was afraid to allow his building for voting process for fear of reprisal from the CDC after its warning to partisans not to do so. "The safety of my properly left behind by my late father is more important to me than the election itself and that cannot be compromised," he said By mid-day confidence gradually returned to the people and they began moving to the polling stations to cast their ballots without any incidence. The entire country was calm throughout the voting process as no incidence was reported from the various urban and community radio networks monitored from Monrovia. At the Boatswain precinct, Presiding Officer, Mildred Quira said both local and international observers visited, observed and left. "No incidence here as yet except the low turn-out but I guess many will come later since it is too soon to reach a conclusion as to whether the voters will come or not," Quira said. The Liberian constitution provides that in a run-off, a simple majority is needed for a candidate to be declared winner unlike the first round where an absolute majority is required to win an election. Meanwhile, Liberia's President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has promised to effect human development reforms that would spur prosperity after voting in her village, Fefe-town, located on the outskirts of Monrovia. Johnson-Sirleaf, who left her personal residence turned presidential villa in Monrovia at 10 a.m., drove in a convoy that was protected largely by the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) to her village. The president voted at about 11 a.m. local time in the largely rural Fefe-town. Johnson-Sirleaf said her focus would be on improving the educational sector, ensuring development for her people and evolving programmes to reduce the level of poverty in the country. On the reported killing of the opposition party's supporters on Monday, Johnson –Sirleaf said an investigation had begun on the cause of the violence. "Liberia is going to move forward. We will find a way to heal the wounds," she said. The president moved to a community town hall to meet with the community members after casting her vote. Most polling stations in the areas around Johnson-Sirleaf's village had people trickling in to vote, unlike the first round of voting where the president insisted on staying on the queue before voting. In a close-by village known as government farm, an electoral officer, Henriette Holmes, said more than a 100 people had voted, but majority took their time to leave their homes. Abraham Jaba, a voter, who strolled into the station, said he knew the turnout would be lower so he had to take his time. Johnson's team had earlier embarked on a mobilisation tour on the election day, urging people to go out to the polling stations and vote for the candidate of their choice. The national vice chairman of Johnson-Sirleaf's campaign team, Sheba Brown, said the turnout was slow, but would pick up before the close of voting. "If it means going out to vote and they will kill us, the blood poured will be for the peace of the country," he said. The presidential candidate of the Congress for Democratic Change, Winston Tubman, who boycotted the election, said in Monrovia that the killing of some of his supporters was regrettable. Tubman blamed the government for the outbreak of violence that resulted in the death of many. The UN put the death toll from the crisis on two people on Tuesday. The CDC secretariat was crowded with supporters on Tuesday, who were demanding the release of their members that were arrested by the Liberian Emergency Response Unit.