Office of the National Secretary General

October 24, 2023

Madam Davidetta Browne Lansanah

Chairperson

National Elections Commission (NEC)

9th Street Sinkor

Monrovia, Liberia

Dear Madam Chairperson:

RE: UNITY PARTY’S OBSERVATIONS ON THE CONDUCT OF THE OCTOBER 10, 2023 ELECTIONS

We present our compliments and write to communicate to the National Elections Commission (NEC) our observations of the conduct of the October 10, 2023 Presidential and General Elections that have presented cause for concern. Our observations are as follows:

1. There were unusually high numbers of Invalid Votes across the country discovered during the vote counting process. As you are aware, a vote is considered invalid if the voter’s intent is not clear to the presiding officer or person in charge from the NEC. The high number of invalid votes could be as a result of the NEC officers’ use of discretion, or the general lack of voters’ education. We note that NEC is responsible for voter’s education as a part of its core responsibilities.

2. In Maryland County for example, there were record of counts from ballot boxes counted on the night of the elections that could not be entered into the NEC tally system because the number of ballots obtained was higher than the total registered voters in the polling places. Those ballot boxes were quarantined. Our observation is that, that was a sign of ballot fraud by ballot stuffing.

3. There were arrests of elections workers from NEC who attempted to alter the vote counts by increasing the numbers in favor of CDC and against Unity Party. The fact that this same act occurred in Grand Cape Mount County and in District number 8, in Montserrado County show dishonesty amongst NEC workers. We are very certain that this may have been the pattern across the country.

4. NEC ordered a rerun of voting in Beo Lentuo, District 4, Nimba County because some ballot boxes were stolen and destroyed. There were also reports of attempts to break into magistrates’ offices in Nimba, Margibi and Montserrado counties for sinister reasons. Those actions point to a lack of adequate security for the transportation and security of ballot boxes.

5. There were long delays in tallying the elections results and a non- systematic pronouncement pattern from NEC. Ballots from far to reach counties in Liberia were obtained by NEC and the results announced prior to ballots obtained in Montserrado County and surrounding places. The manner in which results were announced created the impression that NEC cherry picked the results.

Base on the foregoing observations, Unity Party herewith makes the following recommendations for the ensuing Presidential elections runoff:

1. That a vigorous voters’ education campaign be carried out across Liberia to educate voters on how to mark their ballots. We suggest that the electronic media be used and that messages be presented in the local languages.

2. That elections workers who have been arrested for perpetrating elections fraud be tried in keeping with law to serve as a deterrent to other workers still in the system who may harbor similar motives. We also suggest that a written advice be sent to all elections workers warning them of the consequences of their action should they be caught in acts of elections fraud. Finally, that a surveillance system be put into place in order to catch election fraud.

3. That protection of ballot materials, especially ballot papers already marked and cast, be reinforced while in transit and while in storage. The reinforcement should also include the Armed Forces of Liberia.

4. That results of the runoff voting be announced in an orderly manner by counties and be disaggregated by polling places in the counties to allow for confirmation of the veracity of the votes.

We trust that these recommendations will be afforded priority consideration under the premises.

Ensuring the conduct of free, fair, transparent and credible election in the Presidential runoff

As we participate in the campaign for the Presidential runoff election, it is clear that the number of Parties have reduced to two thereby decongesting polling places of huge number of Party observers compared to the first round of Presidential and Legislative elections. In the spirit of buttressing the NEC’s role of ensuring credibility to the electoral process, the UP has trained and advice our party polling agents to work closely with the NEC voter identification officers (VIO) to ensure that each registered voter is fully listed and captured by the Final Registration Roll (FRR) as released by NEC, a copy of which will be in the possession of our party’s polling agents. We are convinced that our polling agents working alongside the NEC VIO to identify and validate voters on the FRR will help strengthen the credibility and integrity of the entire electoral process.