The National Elections Commission (NEC) says it will proceed as planned to commence the Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) exercise in the Phase One counties of Bomi, Grand Cape Mount, Grand Bassa, Gbarpolu, Margibi and Montsurrado from 20 March to 9 April.

Addressing the Bi-monthly BVR Briefing on Friday, Chairperson Davidetta Browne Lansanah disclosed that there has been progress in preparation for the scheduled commencement of the voter registration process, including the arrival of the first consignment of BVR training materials and the conduct of the Training of Trainers (TOT) workshop from 1 to 5 March for Elections Magistrates, Assistant Magistrates, County Logistics Officers, and some staff of Headquarters.

She announced that a 5-day training of electoral supervisors started on 8 March, and training of 3,195 Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) staff will convene from 13 to 17 March.

The NEC Chairperson said the locations of voter registration enters in the six Phase One counties were published in keeping with Section 3.2 of the New Elections Law.

Madam Browne Lansanah said several mock demonstrations of the BVR exercise have been conducted for the Liberia Marketing Association, political parties and civil society.

She also said a 20-man technical team from Laxton Group, headed by Daniel Engelbrecht, is currently in the country to assist NEC with training, logistics, and preparations for the arrival of equipment and other BVR materials and the setting up of the server in the Data Center of NEC.

Chairperson Browne-Lansanah said Civic and Voter Education (CVE) activities for the BVR have been ongoing in the six Phase One counties since the launch of the CVE campaign on 24 February.

To mitigate risks and challenges associated with the BRV exercise, the NEC Chairperson challenged all stakeholders to effectively play their role by avoiding spreading fake news, misinformation, and disinformation in order to ensure that the transition to BVR is successful.