National Elections Commission (NEC) chairperson Madam Davidetta Browne Lansanah says the Voter Roll Update (VRU) exercise which commenced on 11 September is scheduled to end on 29 September, instead of the original date of 25 September on which it should have ended at 5:00 PM.
Speaking at a news conference in Monrovia Friday evening, 25 September, Madam Lassanah stated that the extension is intended to process eligible citizens in Gbarpolu, Grand Kru, Maryland, River Cess, River Gee and Sinoe counties that were affected by delay in the VRU exercise. She says the NEC is under obligation to make up for those centers that were not covered or did not start on the assigned dates, occasioned by logistical challenges due to bad roads.
“For those isolated cases, the VRU teams are being deployed and will conduct the VRU exercise from now to the 29th [of] September 2020 to process eligible citizens,” she discloses. For the rest of the country, Madam Lassanah explains that the VRU exercise ended Friday, 25 September at 5:00 P.M.
The NEC boss reassures Liberians that the VRU exercise that ran from September 11 to 25 was intended to collect raw data about potential registrants which will be processed through NEC’s data management system.
According to her, the final registration roll (FRR) will be announced after the data cleansing process, which includes de-duplication and the exhibition of the provisional voter roll. During the exhibition, she says the provisional voter roll will be posted at all 2,080 precincts across the country for vetting.
The NEC boss extends sincere thanks and appreciation to the Liberian people for their participation in the VRU exercise, and also thanks the Government of Liberia for funding the exercise. “We are also grateful to the VRU staff who worked under very difficult conditions (in the rain and mud) to execute this project,” she notes.
She applauds NEC technical and administrative staff for their sacrificial services during the exercise, as well as the roles played by the various actors including political parties, civil society organizations, religious groups, the media as well as local and traditional leaders to ensure that VRU process ran smoothly to its end.
she has also applauded the international partners including the United Nations System in Liberia, the European Union and the United States Agency for International Development, Sweden, Irish Aid and the Economic Community of West African States for their continued moral and technical support.
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By E. J. Nathaniel Daygbor–Edited by Winston W. Parley
