MONROVIA, Montserrado – The December 26 runoff election is off to a mostly problem-free start, but turnout has been significantly lower than was seen during the October 10 elections.
In parts of River Cess, Nimba, Bong, Margibi, and Montserrado, much fewer people queued before the start of voting than had done so in the October 10 election. In fact, at some polling centers, queues were empty.
The low turnout is almost certainly due to the National Elections Commission’s selection of the December 26 date, immediately after the festive Christmas holiday when many Liberians often stay out late at night partying. In Ganta, poll workers are now suggesting that radio stations should send out a notice to the public to turn out and vote.
It is unclear which candidate will benefit from the low turnout, although conventional wisdom may suggest that Vice President Joseph Boakai’s supporters, who are generally older than supporters of Sen. George Weah, are less likely to have been partying late into the night. Turnout could still tick up, as polling staff are required to accommodate any voter still standing in the queue at 6:00 p.m., when the polls close.
Unlike on October 10 where there were many polling centers that opened hours late, The Bush Chicken has not yet received any reports of centers that opened significantly late. Additionally, issues flagged by the Supreme Court appear to have been resolved by the National Elections Commission. A major concern was that polling staff were allowing voters whose names did not appear on the voter roll to vote if they carried a voter registration card. The polling staff would simply write down the names of these individuals as a means of keep track. Across the country, this practice appears to have been done away with.
There are, however, a number of issues with voters’ names being misspelled in the final voter registration roll. At a Chocolate City polling center, two voters were almost turned away because polling staff said they could not find their names among the registered voters. It later turned out that their names had been misspelled.
Featured photo by Sampson David
