EU deploys additional election observer missions ahead of Liberia’s run-off vote
The European Union on Sunday deployed 36 additional election observers to Liberia to monitor Tuesday’s crucial presidential run-off election between incumbent, President George Weah and former Vice President Joseph Boakai.
The European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) will plant representatives across Liberia’s 15 counties for the vote.
The observers, drawn from the 27 different EU Member States, as well as Canada and Norway, mean the total number of EU Observers on run-off Election Day stands at around 90.
The observers have been tasked with following all election-related activities at various polling places and voting precincts across the 15 counties. They will observe the opening of polling places and will assess the electoral environment in which the run-off Presidential Elections take place. After the closure of voting, they will also follow the counting, and result-tabulation process until publication of the results.
The EU EOM deployment comes days after the ECOWAS Electoral Observation Mission (EOM) arrived in Monrovia.
All the missions are expected to issue reports on the election after the conclusion of the process.
The run-up to the vote has been characterized by political re-alignments as presidential candidates that fell off at the first round vote sought to sway their supporters towards either Weah or Boakai.
Weah took a slim lead in the first-round election results, with his 43.83% result only slightly edging Boakai’s 43.44%.
For a candidate to be declared winner of Tuesday’s vote, they will be required to attain a simple majority.
Voting is scheduled to open at 8:00 a.m. local time across more than 5,000 polling stations and close at 6:00 p.m.