By: G. Bennie Bravo Johnson I
The Chairperson of the National Election Commission (NEC), Davidetta Brown Lansannah, has made it categorically clear that the Commission will not extend the candidate nomination period that is currently taking place at the Samuel Kayon Doe Sports Stadium in Paynesville.
The candidate nomination process commenced on June 14, 2023, and will end on July 14, 2023.
Speaking at a news conference over the weekend in Paynesville, Chairperson Davidetta Brown Lassana called on those who are aspirants to muster the Courage to make use of the 14 June to 14 July period, provided that there will be no Day added to the prescribed time.
Providing an update on the number of packages picked up from the NEC Nominations Center, the NEC boss revealed that there are 3,225 Independent aspirants and 73 representative seats. Each political party is issued a package for 90 aspirants in the following categories: Political Parties (33×90) = 2,970; 15 Senate seats; 1 Vice Presidential Seat Packages returned:=2551 Presidential seat Independent Candidates: 27 (22 males and 5 females). Political Parties: 63 (57 males and 6 females) NEC Total Number of Packages Returned: 90
She said the National Elections Commission informed the public that the exhibition of the provisional registration roll proceeded as planned. The exercise started on June 12 and ended on June 17, 2023.
“The Exhibition exercise was conducted in 2,080 Exhibition centers throughout the country with 15 headquarters staff, 61 magisterial staff, 4,180 exhibition center staff, and 461 Supervisors deployed throughout the 15 counties and 19 magisterial areas”.
According to her, the reconciliation of exhibition data is currently nearing completion at the NEC Data Center. The process considers all voter registration records that were processed during the exhibition period.
These records represent voters who made claims for correction, inclusion, and/or objection to inclusion, suspected underage registrations, and multiple registrations.
Meanwhile, because of the late arrival of exhibition data and forms from the South East due to road conditions, the date of the announcement of the final registration figure is being adjusted, and the new date will be communicated to the public.
The Procurement process for non-sensitive and sensitive materials for October 10, 2023, Elections is progressing according to plan, with the expectation of delivery beginning in the month of July.
Violent-free 2023 General Elections and the Elimination of Violence against Women in Elections (VAWiE)
Similarly, the Commission, ECOWAS, and UN-Liberia have scheduled signing ceremonies for independent candidates and newly registered political parties to affix their signatures to the Farmington River Declaration, as they too will be
committing themselves to a violent-free 2023 election.
The Commission reminds all local and international observer institutions that the accreditation process for October 10, 2023, General Elections has begun and will run up to September 20, 2023.
Meanwhile, based on a request for assistance made by the NEC a few months ago, ECOWAS has informed the Commission that the regional body will provide electoral assistance in the tone of Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars (US$500,000).
The Commission has submitted to ECOWAS a list of items to be funded by this generous donation. In closing, the Commission again thanks and assures all Liberians, all stakeholders, and all electoral actors that the NEC will continue to work with you to the successful conclusion of the 2023 electoral process.
