ECC, LEON, and WANEP commend the government and people of Liberia for the generally peaceful Nimba County senatorial by-election on April 22, 2025, urging all citizens to remain calm and await the official announcement of the results by the National Elections Commission (NEC).
The organizations in their preliminary statement issued following the conduct of the April 22 senatorial by-election in Nimba, also commend the NEC for the timely distribution of election materials and the adequate deployment of polling staff.
Nonetheless,the three domestic observation groups noted the slow pace at which voters turned out to vote despite the anticipation of anenthusiastic election.
The preliminary statement is based on reports that the ECC, LEON and WANEP received from all 88 short-term observers deployed across all electoral districts in the county.
According to the joint statement, the polling process was peaceful with two notable instances of incidents reported.
Generally, observers reported that voting commenced on time, having all essential voting materials available.
There was an adequate deployment of security officers throughout all electoral districts of Nimba, in addition to party agents and other observers deployed to observe the process.
Regarding the conduct of campaign, which ran from March 31, 2025 and ended on April 19, 2025, the organization observed that NEC was in charge of the campaign schedules of political parties and candidates.
“ECC, LEON and WANEP had the privilege of observing the signing of the Farmington Declaration on April 15, 2025 by the candidates.
The declaration provided a framework to hold all political parties and independent candidates accountable for maintaining peace” the statement noted .
The three groups further observed that overall, the campaign period was largely peaceful with reports of isolated incidents of election-related intimidation and violence.
Touching on arrival and opening of polling places the statement pointed out that all observers were permitted to access and observe at their assigned polling places. Observers generally reported that voting commenced on time.
ECC and LEON observers reported that all observed polling places had the required sensitive voting materials, including the final registration roll, ballot papers, indelible ink, the official ballot stamp, tactile ballot guide and the accounting forms.
Additionally, an average of five NEC staff were present with two women polling officials serving on each team during the set-up. ECC and LEON observers also noted the presence of other observers, including international observers and media representatives at the opening of polls.
With reference to the voting process it was observed that NEC staff generally following voting procedures and there was no problem with queue control due to the slow pace at which voters turned out to vote.
On the overall, polling places observed were peaceful throughout the day, with only two incidents of tension and late opening reported in Nimba electoral district 1 and 8 respectively.
Observers also noted the presence of national security officers in nearly all observed polling places and the professional manner in which they conducted themselves. ECC, LEON and WANEP again commend the professional conduct of security officers during the voting process.
The statement reported what it called a critical instance of late opening of polls and one case of tension at a voting precinct.
Observers also noted the professional manner with which security officers handled the one incident of tension.
Meanwhile, ECC, LEON and WANEP have deployed coordinators at the two designated NEC magisterial offices in Nimba to observe the tabulation of results.
ECC, Partners Commend Nimba By-election Electorates
