MONROVIA, Montserrado – Presidential ballot papers for the October 10 elections have arrived in the country, nearly two weeks ahead of the official day of the polls.
The chairman of the National Elections Commission, Jerome Korkoya, made the pronouncement during a press conference on Sunday.
“We are pleased to announce the arrival of the presidential ballot papers for the 2017 elections,†Korkoya disclosed.
He said 3,053,435 ballot papers for the presidential election arrived onboard a special flight from Slovenia at the Roberts International Airport on Saturday evening.
Although there are 2,183,194 voters, the commission said the surplus of 870,241 papers, would be used for contingency, such as replacement of damaged ballots.
According to an NEC release, armed police escorted the ballot papers to NEC’s headquarters from the airport while media institutions present were allowed to view the offloading and movement of the ballot papers from the aircraft and out of the airport. The commission said the move was to keep the commitment of openness in the elections.
According to Korkoya, the ballots are currently being held in a secured storage under the protection of security until preparations are finalized to distribute them to the 5,390 polling places across the 2,080 voting precincts around the country.
However, Korkoya said ballot papers for the representative elections would arrive separately from Ghana by Thursday, September 28.
Figure 1NEC Chairman, Jerome Korkoya addressing a press conference on Sunday in Monrovia; photo: Gbatemah Senah
He assured that all logistical preparations for the elections are on schedule, adding that other non-sensitive electoral materials have earlier arrived.
“NEC logistical personnel and the Liberia National Police began the deployment of three pre-packed kits to Bomi, Grand Cape Mount and Gbarpolu counties, since yesterday, September 23, 2017,†he disclosed.
The NEC Chairman assured that deployment of kits to other counties would continue throughout this week.
At the same time, he said distribution of sample ballot papers for ‘Know Your Candidate’ sensitization is currently taking place.
“The NEC believes that the distribution of these posters will help to educate voters of the candidates contesting these elections and reduce invalid votes,†he added.
Featured photo by Gbatemah Senah
