Liberia Supreme Court rejects bid to halt voter listing

Liberia’s Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed opposition’s request to halt the ongoing nationwide voter registration ahead of October presidential and legislative elections.

The Collaborating Political Parties (CPP) claimed listing voters without first demarcating constituencies according to the recent national census was unconstitutional.

But in a unanimous verdict, the court said it saw no basis for “disturbing” the voters’ registration exercise since the National Elections Commission (NEC) was not in violation of the constitution as alleged.

According to the court, the case did not constitute an election matter.

The court ruling allows the electoral body to move ahead with phase two of the voter registration exercise, having already conducted phase one last month, which was overshadowed by a series of technical glitches.

Liberia’s population has grown by 50.4% to 5.2 million people, according to 2022 provisional results released in February.

Opposition fears the new numbers might be manipulated to favour President George Weah who is facing strong challenges in his re-election bid.