VZCZCXRO3219
PP RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHMV #1417 3510736
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 170736Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY MONROVIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9583
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0930
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1546

UNCLAS MONROVIA 001417 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KDEM PGOV PREL EAID LI
SUBJECT: LIBERIA: IN WELL-RUN ELECTION, UNITY PARTY AND 
INDEPENDENT CANDIDATES ADVANCE IN GBARPOLU BY-ELECTION 
 
REF: MONROVIA 936 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY. Unity Party candidate J.S.B. Theodore Momo and 
independent candidate Armour Kanie Wesso will advance to 
round two of the Gbarpolu County by-election to replace the 
late Senator Samuel Tormetie on December 18.  Two Embassy 
teams, along with UNMIL and several NGOs, observed round one 
December 4 and noted that the election was well run.  The 
Liberian National Elections Commission (NEC) deserves 
particular credit as it took responsibility for much of the 
management and oversight (vs. UNMIL previously).  The 
Liberian National Police (LNP) covered all the security needs 
of the election without the presence of UN officers.  Voter 
turnout was 36%, larger than the previous legislative 
by-election, likely the result of President Sirleaf 
personally campaigning for her party's candidate.  The only 
flaw was that some polling stations would not have had enough 
ballots for all of their registered voters had the turnout 
been larger (although observers were not aware of any actual 
shortages).  NEC noticed the problem mid-day during round one 
and has already taken steps to avoid a repeat in round two. 
END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  Two Embassy teams observed the first round of the 
Gbarpolu County by-election held December 4 to replace the 
late Senator Samuel Tormetie.  Out of nine contenders, Unity 
Party candidate J.S.B. Theodore Momo won 39.1% of the vote 
and independent candidate Armour Kanie Wesso took 17.6%. 
Because no candidate received 50% plus one vote, a run-off 
between the top two will be held on December 18.  Voter turn 
out was approximately 36% in round one, higher than NEC 
expected despite the fact many people had to walk hours to 
participate.  Turnout was lower in the four previous 
legislative by-elections; only 21.2% of registered voters 
cast a vote the most recent election in July (reftel).  This 
relatively high turnout, and the Unity Party's strong 
showing, is likely the result of President Sirleaf and VP 
Boakai personally campaigning in the county a week before the 
elections. 
 
¶3.  The Embassy teams visited 27 out of 90 polling stations 
and were impressed at how smoothly and transparently the 
election was run.  They observed that all polls were fully 
staffed with trained election personnel.  LNP officers kept 
the lines flowing orderly and showed no signs of interfering 
in the process.  Voters at all polling stations had the right 
corner of their voter ID card cut off and their thumbnail 
dyed as they voted to prevent them from voting again.  Vote 
counting was done systematically at each site immediately 
following the poll closure and the tally sheets were turned 
into the NEC.  Candidate representatives monitoring the 
polling sites told the Embassy teams they were very satisfied 
with how closely election procedures were being followed. 
All sites the teams visited opened within ten minutes of the 
8:00 AM start time and closed on time at 6:00 PM. 
 
¶4.  The only flaw the teams noted in the process was in the 
distribution of ballots among the voting sites.  Some sites 
had 1.5 times the number of ballots needed for their number 
of registered voters.  Others had only half of what they 
needed had all voters assigned to their site turned out. 
However, there were no reports of any actual shortages of 
ballots.  NEC officials acknowledged this discrepancy and 
were prepared to ferry ballots from one polling station to 
another during the day, though it was never necessary.  NEC 
plans to correct the problem for the December 18 runoff. 
 
¶5.  Other observers -- including representatives from the 
National Democratic Institute, the International Republican 
Institute, UNMIL, UNDP, the Center for Democracy and 
Elections, and the International Foundation for Electoral 
Assistance -- shared our general impression that this 
election was transparent and very well run.  They also found 
the election officials to be courteous, timely, and extremely 
attentive to electoral procedures.  Most of them publicly 
expressed their congratulations to NEC as the vote tallies 
were first being counted the evening of December 4. 
 
¶6.  COMMENT:  While partner support, including logistical 
(primarily airlift) support from UNMIL and donor financing, 
was was still key to the successful election, this election 
is different from the four previous Liberian by-elections 
held over the past year in that the Liberian NEC was much 
more in the forefront, with partners remaining behind the 
scenes.  Further, the LNP was responsible for all the 
security; there were no CIVPOL Officers at the polling 
stations.  END COMMENT. 
Booth