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Official preliminary results in the presidential election, announced by the National Elections Commission (NEC) Thursday, showed Sen. George Manneh Weah of the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) in early lead in 11 out of the 15 counties, although most of the votes have yet to be counted.

His closest opponent, Joseph N. Boakai of the Unity Party (UP) leads in one county and is second in most others. A candidate needs more than 50% of the votes for outright victory. The initial results could shock some UP supporters, since CDC appears to be making headways in regions that were once under the control of UP.

 

However, an analysis of the trends implied by these initial results shows that the margin of votes so far between the CDC and the UP is 10%. According to the initial results released by NEC, the total valid votes counted so far amount to 349,357, out of a total of 371,378. The difference between these two figures constitutes the invalid votes, amounting to 22,021 (5.93%).

 

Liberians are choosing a new leader as President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf steps down after 12 years in office. While regional observers said the election was conducted fairly and mostly peacefully, the party of candidate Charles Brumskine issued a statement complaining of irregularities. Earlier on Thursday, observers from the Economic Community of West African States urged the electoral commission to speed up the release of provisional results to “prevent further anxiety,” according to a statement read to reporters.

 

The election in the West African nation could see Liberia transfer power from one elected president to another for the first time in more than half a century. As many as 986 contestants vied for 73 seats in the House of Representatives. The NEC will announce the final results on Oct. 25.

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