MONROVIA, Montserrado – The Elections Coordinating Committee, a coalition of local civil society group monitoring the election, has said results from its observers indicate that the process was peaceful and orderly, with no report of major incidents despite a low turnout of voters.

Oscar Bloh, the chair of the group, noted that the group’s observers reported that there was better queue management compared to the first round of voting and that the queue controllers were more visible and were better at aiding voters.

Bloh further said the observers noticed that 88 percent of polling places had all five NEC staff present during the setup.

“This is an improvement from the October 10 elections,” he added.

He said all sensitive materials including ballots, ballot stamps, the indelible ink, and the final voter registration roll were available at 99 percent of polling places observed by 8:00 a.m.

Bloh recommended that the two political parties, the Coalition of Democratic Change and the Unity Party, and their agents continue to monitor the process until the end. He advised them to refrain from making premature announcements of results and channel all grievances through the appropriate legal and regulative framework.

Bloh also called on the National Elections Commission to investigate reports of pre-marked ballot papers and provide timely information on the outcome of these investigation. Moreover, he asked the media to continue to remain responsible in their reporting on challenges facing the process.

In attendance at the Elections Coordinating Committee’s press conference were international observers including Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, former president of Nigeria; Atifete Jahjaga, former president of Kosovo; Hanna Tetteh, former minister of foreign affairs of Ghana; and Christopher Fomunyoh, the regional director of the National Democratic Institute.

Featured photo by Zeze Ballah