By Bill W. Cooper
What would have appeared to be a failed referendum is now said to be creeping as the National Elections Commissions (NEC) continue to release more results from counties across the 15 political sub-division of the country.As it stands, the NEC has named Bong, Grand Bassa, Bomi, Margibi, River Gee, Rivercess, Grand Cape Mount, Maryland, Sinoe, Grand Gedeh, Montserrado and Lofa Counties been completed with Gbarpolu, Grand Kru and Nimba Counties remaining to be tallied.
With the preceding results from the counties, invalid votes are now said to be dominating the “Yes and No Votes” needed which needs to be added to get the two-third and it is now unclear as to whether the NEC will be able to get the required two-third (2/3) from the remaining three outstanding counties so as to amend portion of the Liberian Constitution.
The huge number of invalid votes so far as per the results from the NEC has now left many Liberians attributing the cause/presumptive failure of the referendum to the government’s refusal to postpone the process which was called for by many political pundits, religious leaders, the Press Union of Liberia, civil society groupings and other well-meaning Liberians who stated that the entire process was unconstitutional due to the limited awareness of the process by NEC as enshrined within the Constitution.
Others have speculated that with the number of invalid votes so far experienced from the 12 counties announced by the NEC, it is almost clear that the Executive Branch of government’s aim to amend the Constitution is on the verge of cracking and as such, any attempt by the NEC to tamper with the process will undoubtedly undermine the VOICE and WILL of the Liberian people.
They are therefore calling on the NEC to ensure that they announce the results as they come, stating, “We are all aware that the yes and no votes from the remaining three counties cannot give us the 2/3 to amend the Constitution, so it will be prudent enough that the NEC announces the will of the people for the protection of the country’s fragile peace.
Article 91 of the Constitution states that, “This Constitution may be amended whenever a proposal by either (1) two-thirds of the membership of both Houses of the Legislature or (2) a petition submitted to the Legislature, by not fewer than 10,000 citizens which receives the concurrence of two thirds of the membership of both Houses of the Legislature, is ratified by two-thirds of the registered voters, voting in a referendum conducted by the Elections Commission no sooner than one year after the action of the Legislature.”
However, The NEC in its calculation formula of the referendum results stated, “Section 4A.4 of the Elections Law, under Referendum results states: The fraction of two thirds (2/3) required for approval of a question in a referendum is calculated by dividing the number of valid votes cast in approval of the question by the total number of the valid votes cast on the question.”
The NEC added, “On September 20, 2020, the Supreme Court held that invalid votes shall not be included in the sum of the total votes. In keeping with the above, you get to the total valid votes cast by adding all of the “Yes votes to all of the “No votes”.
The NEC further explained, “Of this sum, the NEC would ascertain whether the ‘yes’ votes on each proposition reach two-thirds requirement for approval. If they do, the proposition is approved. If not, the proposition is rejected.”
“And because the proposition is a national election, the ‘yes’ and ‘no’ votes from the 15 counties (on each proposition) must be added together to determine whether the yes votes reach two-thirds requirement for approval. This process is done for each of the proposition,” the NEC calculation formula, said to be continued with statistics.
However, a statement on Thursday, December 24, the NEC is quoted as saying that the NEC technicians have been sent to Gbarpolu and Grand Kru Counties after the disruption of the electoral process, in order to begin assessing the condition of Magisterial Offices and the relevant voter precincts as part of ensuring a conducive environment to complete the Special Senatorial Elections and the Referendum in those areas.
However, the Commission further informed the public that the tallying of referendum results in Nimba County is ongoing with additional staff dispatched to the county to expedite the process, noting that after which these results will be announced to the public.
Meanwhile, the Commission said it will continue to engage the necessary authorities to ensure the security of the deployment and protection of electoral materials, staff and the NEC offices in Gbarolu and Grand Kru Counties.