One of Liberia’s leading political parties called for a halt in announcing the result of Tuesday’s presidential election, citing irregularities in the vote, Reuters reports
In a statement, the Liberty Party national chairman, Benjamin Sanvee expressed the party’s concerns stating that they were deeply troubled by the discovery of numerous incidents of irregularities and fraud that occurred during the elections.
The NEC was originally expected to release preliminary results on Thursday.
“We are calling on NEC to immediately halt further announcements of election results. If NEC does not cooperate with our request, we will take the appropriate legal action,” he said, the report said.
Sanvee did not give specific evidence of voter fraud and it was unclear what kind of activity could have altered Tuesday’s vote.
Speaking to Reuters, NEC spokesman said that they are not aware of the Liberty Party’s complaint. NEC did not confirm whether illegal acts occurred.
The Liberty Party, whose candidate Charles Brumskine was considered a front-runner to take over from Nobel Peace Prize winner Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
Johnson Sirleaf, Africa’s first elected female president, won a surprise victory in 2005 following a post-war transition. She was re-elected in 2011 but is barred from seeking another term.
On Election Day, materials including ballot boxes arrived late in some locations and some people struggled to find their names on voter rolls, witnesses said, but there was so far no evidence that this was linked to illicit activity, this according to the report.
Liberia’s last democratic transfer dates back to 1943. The West African country is Africa’s oldest modern republic founded by the freed U.S. slaves in 1847.
