Liberians, on October 10, 2023, will be going to the polls to elect the President, Senators, and Members of the House of Representatives.
The National Elections Commission (NEC) is mandated to conduct elections for all elective public offices and to administer and enforce all election laws throughout the Republic of Liberia.
The National Election Commission of Liberia (NEC) has announced three ways of voting which include: the check mark (✔), (X), or with a thumbprint.
All eligible voters are cautioned to mark or thumbprint once on each ballot.
Here are the processes involved in casting the ballot
- Upon reaching the designated polling place, the voter must show the voting ID to the NEC staff.
- Join the queue behind the last person to ensure that you do not jump the line to cause confusion.
- There would be special consideration for the physically challenged, the aged, pregnant women, and lactating mothers.
- Give the voter ID to the NEC staff to check the availability of the voter’s name in that centre, who will then show the polling place or room. At the polling room or area, NEC staff would verify the name of the voter in the Final Registration Roll (FRR).
- After confirmation of the voter’s name, s/he would be given three ballot papers with different colours – red for presidential, blue for senatorial and green for representative voting.
- Upon receipt of the ballot papers, voters must appropriately mark or thumbprint in a box to the right of the desired candidate’s photo.
- Voters who choose to thumbprint must wait until the mark dries before folding the ballot papers.
- After marking the ballot secretly and folding it accordingly, voters are encouraged to look for the rightful box – President, Senator, and Representative – and put the ballot paper in it.
Voting Process for People with Special Needs
People with special needs, including the physically challenged, the elderly, pregnant women, and lactating mothers, would be allowed to skip joining the queues at the polling centres on election day.
Visually impaired voters would also be provided with tactile ballot papers to enable them to exercise their franchise by secret ballot.
Researched by Julius Kofi Satsi and Sedem Kwasigah
