-As over 2.4million qualified to vote
Liberia's National Elections Commission (NEC) says it is investigating records of 27,192 registrants that were flagged as duplicates in the biometric voter registration (BVR) across the 15 counties.
NEC chairperson Madam Davidetta Brown-Lansanah on Monday, 5 June 2023 released an update on the just-ended 2023 BVR exercise, reporting a total of 2,471,183 as active registrants.
She said after the registration exercises in phases one and two, the NEC commenced the deduplication process through the Biometric Central Management System.
She explained that the NEC recorded a total of 2,498,904 registrants from the 2023 BVR exercise after the completion of the data synchronization process.
Of the 2,498,904 registrants, Madam Brown-Lansanah said a total of 2,471,183 are reported as active registrants.
"27,192 registrants were flagged as duplicates across the 15 counties, while 529 registrants were flagged as suspected underage across the 15 counties," she said.
"These records are being investigated through the adjudication process. All ineligible registrants will be removed and where warranted, their names will be referred to the Ministry of Justice for prosecution," she warned.
Concerning the ongoing investigation of the 529 suspected underage registrants, the NEC Boss stated that the Commission remains mindful in addressing the matter.
This is because registrants in this category may be minors and therefore have a heightened degree of privacy under the law, she noted.
According to the sex-disaggregated figures per county released by the NEC Boss, there were 1,257,490 male registrants, or 50.32%, while female registrants were 1,241,414, or 49.67%.
She said this will be adjusted after the investigation of the duplicates and suspected underage cases at the end of the Exhibition of the Provisional Registration Roll (PRR).
She noted that these figures are fully disaggregated per Electoral Districts and Voter Registration Centers.
Additionally, Madam Brown-Lansanah reported that 12,399 Persons with Disabilities registered during the voter registration period, across the 15 counties of Liberia.
She said the use of the online Personal Data Entry platform helped significantly to reduce the time it took to process a registrant at the Registration Center.
According to her, the Commission successfully captured the data of 534,286 persons through this medium.
In a related development, the NEC has informed Liberians and all stakeholders that the Exhibition of the Provisional Registration Roll will commence on 12 June and end on 17 June 2023.
During this period, the Commission said all 2080 Registration Centers will become Exhibition Centers and will be opened simultaneously across the country from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM daily.
The NEC encourages registrants to visit the Centers where they registered.
NEC said the Exhibition is to allow registrants to reaffirm their registration details; request corrections where necessary; and object to the inclusion of persons on the Final Registration Roll (FRR).
To ensure that only eligible voters remain on the voters' roll, NEC said it is important that the public bring forward all concerns during the exhibition period.
The NEC also informs political parties, coalitions, alliances, and independent aspirants that, based on the electoral timeline, the nomination of candidates for the 10 October 2023 elections will begin on 14 June 2023 and end at 5:00 PM on 14 July 2023 at the Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex.
He cautioned that this exercise is a critical element in the electoral process.
"Nomination packages can be picked up at the nomination center at the S.K.D. Sports Complex, beginning June 12, 2023, and throughout the nomination period."
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The Commission extends gratitude to all electoral stakeholders, including local, regional, and international partners.
It thanks the Ministry of Justice and the National Security Agencies, including the Liberia National Police and the Liberia Immigration Service for their roles.
The Commission also thanks owners of properties used by the NEC, the suppliers of the Biometric Kits and Software, Laxton, Neurotechnology, and 3D, and all temporary and permanent staff of the NEC for their work.
The NEC appreciates all stakeholders for their fervent participation and love for Liberia demonstrated throughout the conduct of the BVR exercise.
Meanwhile, the Commission assures all Liberians, and other electoral actors that it will continue to work with all stakeholders and the public to ensure the successful conclusion of the 2023 presidential and legislative elections.
