The presidential election in Liberia is set for a run-off between incumbent President George Weah and his main rival Joseph Boakai after running neck and neck in the first round of results.
With almost all votes counted, Mr. Weah currently has 43.8% of the vote with Mr. Boakai on 43.5%, provisional results show.
The election commission released results after votes had been counted in more than 98% of polling stations, gave Mr. Weah a slim lead of 5,456 votes.
Voting is set to be repeated in parts of Sinoe, Nimba and Montserrado counties on Friday after ballots were tampered with, the commission said.
The imminent run-off would be a repeat of what happened in the previous election six years ago, which Weah won.
Mr. Weah, a former international football star who is seeking a second term as president won the 2017 run-off with 61.5% to Mr Boakai’s 38.5%.
Liberian election regulation requires that a candidate needs more than 50% of the vote to be declared the winner.
Last week’s voting was Liberia’s closest presidential race since the civil war ended two decades ago.
Weah and Boakai are now set to lobby for votes from the other 18 presidential candidates who didn’t receive more than 3% in the first round.
A run-off will be held on November 7 after the announcement of official results.
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Source: Africafeeds.com
