The Global News Network (GNN), amongst other things, claims that the October 10, 2023, elections in Liberia were marred by cheating and irregularities.
In the story, the paper didn’t reference the particular incident of cheating but presented an allegation that seeks to undermine the credibility of the October 10 polls.
Following a review of all the incidents relating to the October 10, 2023 elections, LVL Fact Checking Desk concludes that the claim in the story is unproven. There is no evidence to show that the elections was marred by cheating and irregularities.
With the exception of one incident in Grand Cape Mount County where the polling staff of NEC were arrested by the police for irregularities, there has been no other recorded incident of “cheating and irregularities” reported or observed by national or international observers.
Several international organizations monitoring the October 10 polls including the European Union Mission to Liberia described the election as transparent and well-handled in their report.
Also, in an October 14 press release the Elections Coordinating Committee (ECC) commended the NEC for the level of transparency in tallying the election results which it said “adds value to the credibility of the outcome”.
Based on the reports from local and international observers on the conduct of the October 10, elections, we therefore conclude that the claim of cheating and irregularities made in the article is unproven. election
Meanwhile, in a response to an inquiry by LVL Fact Checking Desk about these claims, NEC Strategic Communications Committee Chairman of National Elections Commission , Samuel B. Cole, denied the claims made in the article and stressed the Commission’s commitment to ensuring a free, fair, and transparent electoral process.
At the same time, the NEC has also described as “faked allegations and disinformation trending on social media that some of its executives and directors” are showing supporters of political party.
A recent Facebook post making claims of bias on the part of some NEC officials was later taken down. However, Mr. Cole stressed that all the allegations against officials of the NEC are misleading.
See below Full Text of statement by Mr. Cole stressing the Commission’s commitment to ensuring a credible election while also debunking misleading information about its officials.
The NEC, in no uncertain terms, categorically denies and condemns faked allegations and disinformation trending on social media that some of its executives and directors “have been seen wearing paraphernalia of opposition, attending meetings, rallies and even rendering financial assistance to the opposition community”.
This story has no basis in fact; it is false, misleading and a dangerous attempt to undermine the electoral process and expose the Commission to disrepute and endanger members of its staff, while at the same time threatening the peace.
Executives and staffers of the Commission are professionals who are committed to the Commission’s core values of Independence, Professionalism, Integrity and Impartiality and will do nothing to undermine the peace and stability of Liberia.
On the contrary, executives and staffers of the Commission are fully committed to the conduct of free, fair, inclusive, and credible elections and the records are available from past elections, and for the November 14, Runoff Election, Liberians can rest assured that the NEC will do so as well.
In a related development, the attention of the Commission is drawn to the last paragraph of a story from the Global News Network with caption: Liberia’s Development Partners Prefer A Boakai’s Presidency – Want George Weah Out. The last paragraph of that story alleged that, “The October 10th poll was reportedly marred by cheating like ballot stuffing and number altering on the ballot papers as well as inflated invalid votes–most against Boakai who was tipped or projected to win in the first round with about 54% of the votes”.
The Commission denies these allegations of cheating and states that while there were few isolated cases of nine (9) of the over 30 thousand temporary polling staff alleged involvement in electoral malpractices in Montserrado (5 persons) and Grand Cape Mount (4 persons), the NEC itself detected these alleged malpractices and turned the culprits over to the Police for investigation and prosecution. These attempted malpractices were corrected and did not affect the outcome of the elections.
The Commission assures all Liberians, candidates, political parties, stakeholders, political actors and observers that the NEC is committed to ensuring that the necessary safeguards are put in place for the conduct of the runoff election to which end the Commission will announce the outcome of the votes from the November 14, 2023, Runoff Election in a credible manner, as it was done in the first round.
Finally, NEC call on all Liberians and stakeholders to always contact the Commission when they are in doubt and refrain from these kinds of dangerous and unfounded stories that have the propensity to not only undermine the credibility of the electoral process but that could also put employees of the NEC in harm ways and even threaten the peace.
Local Voices Liberia, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme, has implemented the iVerify Liberia system with the objective of strengthening capacities to address threats to information integrity, especially in view of the upcoming 2023 elections, to ensure all Liberian citizens have access to credible, reliable and verified information, everywhere and at all times.
This initiative is funded by Irish Aid, Embassy of Sweden in Monrovia, European Union Delegation in Liberia and the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund. The donors have no say in the production of this fact check report.
