Liberian election officials release most results showing Weah loss but order re-run in one county

MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) — Liberian election officials released nearly all the results from this week’s runoff election showing President George Weah losing his bid for a second term, but said late Friday that the vote would need to be re-run in one county before a winner could be declared.

The announcement left the West African country in a tense wait after election officials said that challenger Joseph Boakai had won 50.89% of the votes counted so far, while the incumbent Weah had 49.11%.

Election officials also announced that the vote would be reheld Saturday in Nimba County, where the number of ballots cast at one polling station exceeded the number of registered voters.

Officials also were still waiting on results from 25 polling stations. Still, Liberian election officials said that the preliminary results announced Friday made up 99.58% of ballots cast on Tuesday.

The second round was expected to be an extremely tight after results showed that Weah took 43.83% while Boakai brought in 43.44% of the total in the first round last month. Boakai later managed to win endorsements from the third, fourth and fifth-place finishers.

Boakai appeared to have an upper hand in the vote because of the many Liberians aggrieved over the unfulfilled promises of Weah to fix the country’s ailing economy and stamp out corruption, according to Ryan Cummings, director of Africa-focused Signal Risk consulting.

The outcome of the second round so far shows “public disaffection with his (Weah’s) administration with Boakai considered a viable alternative for a lot of Liberians,” said Cummings.

The Joint Security of Liberia has cautioned both Weah and Boakai’s parties against celebrations before the National Elections Commission announces final results and declares a winner.

Weah, a former international soccer star, won the 2017 election after his promise to fight poverty and generate infrastructure development. It was the first democratic transfer of power in the West African nation since the end of the country’s back-to-back civil wars between 1989 and 2003 that killed some 250,000 people.

But the 57-year-old president has been accused of not living up to key campaign promises that he would fight corruption and ensure justice for victims of conflict.

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Associated Press journalist Chinedu Asadu in Abuja, Nigeria contributed.