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There are several debatable issues raised in the
following article, but I want to touch on just this
one -- the argument that fraud must have taken place
because votes in some polling stations tallied more
than registered voters in that region. I am not very
familiar with the Liberian voting laws, but isn't it
possible, if the claim that "polling stations with
less than 200 registered voters showed more than 500
voters" is true, that voters from other localities
could have voted at stations where they were not
registered? Were there registrations regarding where
one votes?
I don't mean to suggest that fraud could not have been
the cause of the alleged discrepancies. But fraud is
not always the only explanation for such
discrepancies. We should consider other logical
explanations as well.
- Wilmot
From:
http://www.frontpageafrica.com/RunScript.asp?page=&Article_ID=495&NWS=NWS&ap=NewsDetail.asp&p=ASP\~Pg0.asp
Smoking Gun? Weah, CDC Get Their Day in Court -
11/16/2005 5:24:26 AM
John Walsh
[log in to unmask]
Monrovia-George Weah’s and his Congress for Democratic
Change are having their day in court today as the
National Elections Commission begins a probe into
allege election irregularities during the just-ended
run-off elections in Liberia.
The final results announced on Tuesday gives Unity
Party standard bearer, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf 59
percent to Weah’s 41 percent. The former footballer,
Weah, alleges that ballot boxes were fraudulently
stuffed with voting slips.
“We have uncovered a widespread international
conspiracy to make Mrs. Sirleaf the president of
Liberia even though she didn’t win the elections,"
said a CDC statement sent to FrontPageAfrica on
Sunday. The party claims that the conspiracy is
evidenced by the fact that even though they filed a
case with the NEC and have asked the Supreme Court to
issue an injunction to halt the counting of results,
nothing has been said or done by our international
partners to investigate these allegations,” read a
party statement issued to FrontPageAfrica on Sunday.
“We have NEC poll workers who have gone on record and
are willing to testify that they were approached by
NEC, UP and International organizations to engage in
vote rigging,” read the statement.
The allegations of fraud being charged by CDC
partisans have led non-partisans and political
observer to question the timing and the essence of
such a claim. And more importantly, “how the
pre-marked ballots made it into the boxes?"
“We have examined that many of the ballots were marked
in like manner. Voters seemed to have written in
similar manner. And it would be practically difficult
for all of those voting at a particular polling
station to be able to write the same way. If the
ballots are examined, this evidence will definitely
bare us out,” continued the statement from the CDC.
The CDC statement suggests that some NEC poll workers
were given particular instructions to put these
ballots in the boxes in areas where CDC did not have
representatives or when representatives took a break.
“We have also discovered that most of those ballots
were used in remote locations where it would be
difficult for parties to be represented.”
The statement suggests that the NEC may have erred
when they used the ballots in places were less people
registered to vote. A party investigation, according
to sources within the party showed that tallied
results for polling stations with less than 200
registered voters showed more than 500 voters. “It was
in these locations that most of the pre-marked ballots
were used,” said the source.
The party claims that NEC was taking advantage of the
low turn out to exploit the Liberian voting process,
convinced that perhaps “no more than 1.3 people would
vote so it would be reasonable to do anything once you
didn’t exceed the 1.3 limit.”
Frances Johnson-Morris, who heads the National
Elections Commission says the new president will not
be confirmed until the investigation is complete. The
inquiry which commenced this morning adjourned for
several hours to enable the Congress for Democratic
Change to put up their case. Liberia’s first elections
since the end of 14 years of civil war, has been
hailed as free and fair by both western and African
observers.
On Tuesday, the head of the National Transitional
Government of Liberia, Charles Gyude Bryant ordered a
halt to all unauthorized street protests in an
apparent attempt to halt a series of protests by Weah
and his supporters over the last few days.
"Government will not under any circumstances accept a
situation where some citizens decide to hold the rest
of the country hostage because they do not agree with
a particular issue or course of action," said Bryant.
"In light of the persistent street protests, which are
causing panic among citizens... resulting in
intermittent closures of schools and business houses,
government can no longer allow this situation to
continue," said the interim leader in an address to
the nation.
From the streets to the court
Weah and his CDC have urged their supporters - who
include many former combatants - to remain calm as
they push their allegations through the court system.
Prior to the investigation, the CDC warned that if
Johnson-Sirleaf is declared the winner, there will be
"resistance". The CDC won more seats than any other
party. National Elections Commission (NEC) chairwoman
Frances Johnson Morris has warned Mrs Johnson-Sirleaf
and her supporters not to start celebrating yet. She
said the results would be confirmed by 23 November
after the poll complaints had been investigated. If
Mrs Johnson-Sirleaf's victory is confirmed, she would
become the first woman to be elected head of state
anywhere in Africa. Johnson-Sirleaf has rejected
claims of vote-rigging as absurd and called on Weah to
concede.
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