Weah And Boakai In Close Race For Liberian Presidency As Vote Count Begins
Monrovia, (APP – UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 16th Nov, 2023) Vote counting was under way in Liberia on Wednesday, the day after a presidential run-off between football legend George Weah and ex-vice president Joseph Boakai, with the challenger taking a narrow early lead.
The balloting passed peacefully on Tuesday, with more than 2.4 million voters called to choose between incumbent Weah, 57, who is seeking a second term, and 78-year-old Boakai.
Observers expect the result to be tight after the two candidates came roughly neck-and-neck in the first-round vote last month.
With results counted from 1,315 of the 5,890 polling stations across the country, Boakai was ahead with 50.7 percent of the votes, Davidetta Browne Lansanah, chairwoman of the electoral commission, told reporters.
She did not specify what proportion of the total number of voters these polling stations represented. They accounted for just over 386,000 votes.
In the first-round vote, held last month, Weah led his old rival by just 7,126 votes nationally.
But in 2017‘s presidential race, he easily beat Boakai in the second round, taking more than 61 percent.
The electoral commission has 15 days from the polls to publish the results but could do so sooner.
The electoral commission is expected to report daily on the state of the count, which began shortly after the polling stations closed on Tuesday evening.