NEC GETS $20M for VOTERS REGISTRATION ….As Presidential and General Elections Get Underway
By: Sylvester Choloplay
Liberia: The Chairperson of the National Elections Commission (NEC), Madam Davidetta Brown Lansanah, has disclosed that the Liberian Government has appropriated and approved in the National Budget for Fiscal Year 2022 the amount of U.S. $20,000,000.00 (Twenty Million Dollars) for the conduct of Voters Registration and other activities.
The amount, according to her, will represent partial funding to enable other preliminary electoral activities.
Madam Lansanah also revealed that the NEC has adjusted the submitted 2023 Comprehensive Elections Budget to U.S sixty-one (61) million dollars.
Outlining the calendar of Events leading to the 2023 Presidential and Representative Elections, the NEC Boss noted that December 15, 2022 to March 17, 2023, has been scheduled Voters Registration Period for the Presidential and Representative Elections.
The NEC Executive said from July 3 to August 5, 2023 is set as candidate nomination period, July 9, 2023 last date to challenge preliminary list of candidates, and September 4 to October 8, 2023 as presidential & legislative campaign period.
She further mentioned that on October 10, 2023, is elections day, October 12-24, 2023 announcement of provisional results, and October 25, 2023 announcement of final results.
However, the NEC said the dates are subject to adjustments depending on prevailing circumstances.
Meanwhile, addressing the media in Monrovia, NECโs boss Madam Davidetta Brown Lansanah intoned that the Commission has transitioned from Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) to a Biometric Voter Registration or BVR system.
Madam Lansanah said the advantages of the BVR system are the prevention of multiple registrations; the accuracy of the information collected for each registered voter; the creation of unique lifetime voter identification for each registered voter; and the eradication of voter impersonation, among others.
โThe NEC has also introduced a new variable in its civic and voter education (CVE) program by which the commission has decided to set up 73 CVE cells (one in each of the 73 electoral districts) to do regular grassroots voter education outreach activities across the countryโ, she asserted.
Madam Lansanah informed media practitioners in Monrovia that the civic and voter education is being supported by the NEC and the UNDP Liberia Election Support Project.
