Liberia’s presidential election heading to runoff

By James Tasamba

KIGALI, Rwanda (AA) - With nearly all the votes counted in Liberia, none of the candidates has obtained the 50+1 mark needed to win the first round of the Oct. 10 presidential poll, according to official provisional results.

Results released late Wednesday by the National Elections Commission from 99.9% of the country's 5,890 polling places showed that the two frontrunners were neck and neck with incumbent President George Weah leading with a slim margin.

Weah garnered a total of 803,674 votes, representing 43.84% of the ballots counted while his main challenger Joseph Boakai, a former vice president got 796,313 votes, making up 43.44% of the total ballots.

While the National Elections Commission is yet to officially declare a runoff, the results show that there will be a runoff between Boakai and President Weah, according to analysts.

The constitution requires the winning candidate to secure 50% plus one vote to claim an outright victory.

“Results analysis shows that no candidate could have reached the 50% plus one threshold for a first-round victory during the 2023 presidential election,” Juli Endee, an official of the Liberia Elections Observation Network told Anadolu Thursday, citing their own analysis.

The runoff election is expected to take place on Nov. 7.

Liberia went to the polls on Oct. 10, with 2.4 million registered voters. Voter turnout rate was 77.71%.

Weah, a former football legend who has been in office since January 2018, is seeking reelection on a promise to deliver more prosperity to Liberia.

Boakai served as vice president under former President Sirleaf. He campaigned on the promise of improving social services, including healthcare, education, and social welfare.