In Summary:
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Alexander Cummings, Political Leader of the Alternative National Congress (ANC), claimed that the 1% of votes he received in the 2023 Presidential election was the result of fraud
- We have verified this claim by reviewing official election data from the National Elections Commission, along with reports from both local and international election observers
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There is no report suggesting that the 2023 election was fraudulent, as claimed by the Liberian politician
On October 2, Alexander Cummings, Political Leader of the Alternative National Congress (ANC), claimed that the one percent of votes he received in Liberia’s 2023 presidential election was the result of fraud.
Cummings made the allegation during his appearance at the Center for the Exchange of Intellectual Opinion (CEIO), where he alleged that the political class conspired to marginalize him.
The Claim
Said Mr. Cummings: “I think the 1% was a fraud. It was the intentions of what I called the political class to try to make me politically irrelevant by contributing to that outcome.”
Rating Justification
To verify this claim, we reviewed official election data, along with reports from both international and local election observers.
According to the final results of the first round of the presidential election published by the NEC, Cummings finished fifth in the October 10, 2023, presidential election, securing 29,613 votes, which accounted for 1.61 percent of the total valid votes cast.
To verify whether there were reported incidents of fraud that may have affected the outcome of the election results, we reviewed reports by local and international election observation missions.
Reports by the European Union Mission Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) described the electoral process as transparent and well-handled, noting that polling and counting were carried out professionally and in line with international standards.
Similarly, the Election Coordinating Committee (ECC), a leading Civil Society Network promoting electoral integrity and democratic governance in Liberia, commended the NEC for ensuring transparency in the vote tallying process.
In a statement issued on October 14, 2023, the ECC said the NEC’s conduct “adds value to the credibility of the election outcome”.
Up to the publication of this report, we have not found any credible evidence to substantiate claims of fraud affecting the 2023 election result or Mr. Cummings’ vote count.
Although there were allegations by the governing party at the time, the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) about election rigging by the opposition, there were no evidence to proof these claims.
Conclusion
Based on a review of official election results and assessments from reputable international and local observer groups, Mr. Cummings’ claim that the “one percent of votes he received during the 2023 elections was due to fraud” is unproven.
We have found no report suggesting that the 2023 election was fraudulent. The conduct of the election was described by local and international observers as “transparent and well-handled”.
