By Grace Q. Bryant
The Supreme Court of Liberia is probing into the constitutionality of the ongoing Biometric Voters Registration (BVR) Process which is being contended by the Collaborating Political Parties (CPP).
During the case argument on Tuesday, April 4, before the full bench, CPP legal team headed by Cllr. Aloysius Toe said NEC is violating the Constitution by conducting the Biometric Voters Registration after the conduct of a census without constitutionally demarcating constituencies into which a voter is to be registered.
Cllr. Toe argued that Article 80 (c), of the Constitution states that all Liberian citizens shall have the right to register in a constituency.
He noted, “In keeping with Article 80(c), “Every Liberian citizen shall have the right to be registered in a constituency and to vote in public elections only in the constituency where registered.”
Article (d) of the 1986 Constitution also provides that a constituency “shall have approximately equal population of 20,000, or such number of citizens as the Legislature shall prescribe in keeping with population growth and movements as revealed by a national census; provided that the total number of electoral constituencies in the Republic shall not exceed one hundred.”
Article (e provides that “Immediately following a national census and before the next elections, the Elections Commission shall reapportion the constituencies in accordance with the new population figures so every constituency shall have as close to the same population as possible; provided, however, that a constituency must be solely within a county.”
CPP maintained that NEC has violated and continue to violate these three provisions of the 1986 Constitution.
“Despite various public objections over the unconstitutional delays to conduct the census and concerns around the integrity of the results, according to the Liberian Government, the census has been conducted,” he noted
He added, “Although final results have not been announced, preliminary results, which were publicly announced, show changes in the growth and movements of the population. In some cases, the changes in population defy historical trends and represent massive and significant shifts in the growth and movements of the population.”
The constitutional duty of the NEC is to proceed as the Constitution directs and from which it has no authority to deviate. The CPP believes that to do otherwise is to violate the Constitution and thereby risks the constitutional integrity of the upcoming elections.
According to CPP, their arguments are not seeking the intervention of the court to delay the elections. But rather they are calling for the straight adherence to the constitution.
“We know that Liberians cannot wait to end their sufferings by decisively voting out and bringing to a democratic end the multiple failures in leadership of the George Weah- led administration,” CPP stated.
In its returns to the CPP’s petition, respondent National Elections Commission requested court to dismiss petitioner’s petition because the petition did not include the names of the sitting justices of the Supreme Court, and respondent further took the frivolous position that under the constitutional doctrine of “ separation of power,” as found in Chapter 1, Article 3 of the Liberian Constitution (1986, as amended), that “National Elections Commission and the Executive Branch, respondents herein, do not have the legal authority to command or compel the legislative Branch to carry out and perform its functions outlined in the Constitution.”
“Petitioners averred that the census results have been submitted to the Legislature by LISGIS, and it is up to the “Legislature to set the new threshold by which Respondent National Election Commission would then be able to demarcate new constituencies,” the respondents said.
The Respondent further takes the position, albeit wrong, untenable and legally unreasonable, that because Article 80 (c), Lib. Constitution (1986, as amended), requires every Liberian citizen to register and vote in a constituency, and further because the country is currently divided into 73 electoral constituencies, Respondent National Election Commission is legally justified to register eligible voters in one of those 73 constituencies, even if the constitutional prerequisites and preconditions are not met. Emphasis sup See counts 5 of respondents’ returns. CPP contends that respondent’s position is wrong and unconstitutional under the law.
The respondents further relying on Chapter 4 Section 4.1(3) of the New Election Law of 1986 as Amended, which provides that “no change in the definition of a constituency or a voting precinct shall apply to an Election if the Election day is less than 12 months after the day the change is published, unless the commission announces, at least 120 days before the election day, that all necessary preparations and be made to allow the changes to the election,” respondent National Election Commission takes the erroneous position that, pursuant to the above cited law, it has no authority to change the definition of a constituency, that is, it has no authority to demarcate constituency of approximately equal population as required by the constitution, unless the Legislature comes out with a New Reapportionment of Electoral constituencies between now and the end of May, 2023, there will not be and cannot be any re-demarcation of New Electoral Constituency for the 2023 General Election.”
“While Petitioner agrees that Respondent has no authority to demarcate constituency unless the Legislature set constituency threshold, Petitioner CPP also contends that Respondent’s position is wrong and unconstitutional under the law in that Respondent has no authority to proceed with voters’ registration absent a constituency threshold and demarcation,” the respondents noted.
Respondents maintained that because Article 80 (d) of the Constitution authorizes the Legislature to prescribe population and constituency threshold before respondent National Election Commission can demarcate, and because the Legislature has not done so, it is the Legislature that should answer to this Petition, and not National Election Commission. Again, Petitioner CPP contends that Respondent’s position is wrong and unconstitutional under the law.
“It is due to the unconstitutional conduct of respondent National Elections Commission, that petitioner Collaborating Political Parties filed an In Re Petition to the full bench of the Supreme Court of Liberia, hence this Petitioner’s Brief. By the filing of its petition, the CPP is concerned about the constitutionality of the action of the respondent NEC to conduct voters’ registration, after the conduct of a census, but without constitutionally demarcating constituencies into which a voter is to be registered,” the respondents concluded.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has reserved ruling following legal arguments by lawyers representing the CPP, the National Elections Commission (NEC), and the government of Liberia in the petition involving the alleged unconstitutionality of the NEC conducting voters registration before reapportioning of constituencies.
The CPP, of which Mr. Alexander Cummings is the Standard Bearer, petitioned the Supreme Court on March 17, accusing the NEC of proceeding with the conduct of the voters registration in contravention of the Liberian Constitution, specifically Articles 80 E, C and D.
Legal arguments were heard by the five Justices of the Supreme Court of Liberia, including Chief Justice Sie-A-Nyene Youh. The NEC was represented by Liberia’s former Solicitor General Michael Wright, while the government was represented by acting Solicitor General Nyenatee Tuan of the Justice Ministry, and the CPP was represented by Counsellor Aloysius Toe and others.
During legal arguments, CPP lawyers maintained that the NEC has proceeded wrongly to conduct voters registration without reapportioning constituencies, that NEC registered voters not in their constituencies, and that voters registration cards issued by the NEC bear no constituencies name as required by the Liberian Constitution.
State Lawyers argued that the Liberian Constitution empowers the National Legislature to set the Threshold and as such the NEC can’t force the Legislature to do so. State lawyers said in the absence of the threshold, the NEC proceeded to use the current 73 constituencies to conduct the Voters Registration.
However, in counter arguments, CPP lawyers said the use of the current 73 constituencies was wrong, since in fact the law limited its use to only the 2011 elections. CPP said while the NEC could not force the Legislature to set the threshold, the NEC could have still proceeded to reapportion constituencies based on the provisional results of the just ended 2023 National Census which put the country’s population at 5.2 million.
Following hours of arguments and counter arguments, the Supreme Court presided over by Chief Justice Sie-A-Nyene Youh reserved ruling until further notice.
