Liberia: Fact Check - Will Citizens Without National ID Card Be Barred From Voting in 2029?

20 April 2026
The Liberian Investigator (Monrovia)

Published: April 20, 2026

On April 9, 2026, Montserrado County District #8 former Representative, Acarous Moses Gray, claimed in a Facebook post that President Joseph Nyuma Boakai has directed the National Elections Commission (NEC) to institute a strategy that will disallow citizens without a National Identification card from voting in the 2029 elections.

Mr. Gray made the claim while alleging that the move is part of a plan by President Boakai and members of the majority bloc in the Legislature to rig the 2029 presidential elections.

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To support his claim, the former opposition lawmaker cited a July 10, 2025 Executive Mansion press release.

The Claim

Excerpt from Gray's Claim: "President Boakai and some members of the majority bloc of legislators plan to rig the 2029 presidential elections... as they have instructed NEC that if you don't have a citizen identification card, you will not be qualified to vote.

Screenshot of the Facebook post by the former lawmaker

Rating Justification

To verify this claim, we contacted Mr. Gray for clarification and to provide additional evidence. However, he did not respond to our inquiry. We will update this report if he does.

We then conducted an independent review of the July 10, 2025, Executive Mansion press release cited in his post.

Our findings show that nowhere in the statement is there any directive to the NEC indicating that individuals without a citizen identification card would be disqualified from voting in the 2029 elections.

Instead, the release announced the establishment of a Steering Committee for the Nationwide Biometric ID System Rollout, tasked with finalizing contractor selection and ensuring a nationwide rollout by April 13, 2026.

Original copy of a July 10, 2025, Executive Mansion press release, Gray cited

The statement further notes that the biometric ID system is intended to support Liberia's broader goals of digital governance, financial inclusion, electoral integrity, and citizen empowerment--but it does not introduce any voting requirement tied to possession of a national ID card.

Conclusion

The claim that the government of President Joseph Nyuma Boakai has directed the National Elections Commission to disqualify voters without a citizen identification card in the 2029 elections is misleading.

The July 10, 2025 Executive Mansion release cited by Mr. Gray only establishes a steering committee for the rollout of a national biometric ID system and does not contain any directive affecting voter eligibility for the 2029 elections.

Editor's Note:

This fact check was produced by Local Voices Liberia with support from the European Union through the Liberia Media Empowerment Program (LMEP). The funder had no say in the editorial decision leading to the production of this fact-check report. Read the original fact-check report here.

Read the original article on Liberian Investigator.

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