-- As processes to replace Koung, deceased Rep. Gwion begins

The National Elections Commission (NEC) has announced April 23, 2024, as the date for the Senatorial and Representative by-elections in Nimba and Grand Gedeh County will be held simultaneously.

Madam Davidetta Browne Lansanah, NEC Chairperson, recently made the disclosure at the Commission's headquarters in Sinkor, Monrovia.

The by-election in Nimba will be held as a result of the election of Senator Jeremiah Kpan Koung as Vice President while eligible voters in Grand Gedeh Electoral District #1 will be casting their ballots in a bid to fill the vacancy created as a result of the death of Rep. Erol Madison Gwion.

Gwion was reelected to a full six-year term having won an earlier by-election in which he served for as of 2021, following the election to the Senate of Zoe Emmanuel Pennue in 2020.

NEC said the accreditation of party agents, media, and election observers will begin on February 26 and will continue until April 1, 2024.

For the publication of guidelines, February 28 has been set as the date while candidates' nomination period will run from March 6 to 19.

On the replacement of lost and damaged voter cards, the Commission noted in its statement that the process will begin on March 20 and the publication of the provisional candidates' list will be on March 21.

The Commission also disclosed that civic voter education and gender campaigns will be launched on March 22 while the publication of the voting precincts will be done on April 2.

Lansanah said the final listing of candidates will be on April 4 when the campaign will also open. The campaign exercise will end on April 20, she said.

It is not clear what the By-Elections would cost the Commission, as there is no available detail yet.