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Over Mont. Dist.#2 Electoral Dispute
Following the recusal of the Upper Montserrado County National Elections Commission (NEC) Hearing Officer/ Magistrate, Atty. Patterson Blamo over the Montserrado District #2 electoral Irregularities case, the Commission has immediately assigned two of their Magistrates to continue inquiring into the case.
The newly assigned magistrates to continue inquiring into the matter are, Magistrate Lorpu Godfrey and Festus Nowon who are expected to make their debut on Monday November 27, 2023.
Atty. Patterson Blamo recused himself from the case following the recommendation made by the Montserrado District #2 representative candidate in 2023 representative and presidential, Bishop Nimley J Donyen legal team during the Tuesday November 21, hearing at NEC headquarters in Monrovia,on ground that he has shown biasness and partiality which have the propensity to prejudice the outcome of the case
“You said you lost your mother, stayed away from the case for two weeks, we requested further action, then you have come back to show up and continue the case? You must have an interest in our opponent,” Donyen Defense Counsel disclosed.
Based on the request made by Team Donyen Defense lawyers, the NEC Magistrate, Atty Blamo recused himself or stepped aside from the case on Wednesday November 22, to allow a free and fair trial.
The drama surrounding the district electoral case started back in October following the NEC results announcement in the October 10, legislative and presidential elections where Bishop Nimley J. Donyen rejected the result and calls for a recount as he claimed victory over his rival.
Candidate Donyen is claiming victory over Unity Party Candidate, Sekou Kanneh with over 1000 votes calling on the National Elections Commission (NEC) to ensure a recount.
Bishop Donyen said, ” I didn’t expect this to take such a long time. I thought the National Elections Commission would have understood that the campaign is expensive, and that I have invested a lot of money in the campaign. With this mindset, I thought NEC was going to call all the candidates in District Two Montserrado County to a meeting and inform us that a request for recount was sent by one of us. So each candidate should send one or two representatives to witness the recount. I believe the majority of the candidates would have agreed and the recount would have been done before the runoff presidential election of November 14th. Unfortunately, we don’t know when this recount will take place so that the People of District Two Montserrado County will know their Representative.”
Bishop Donyen claims victory over his rival , ,Seckou Kanneh
with 1317 votes margin stating that he obtained a total votes of, 9,444 while Kanneh got 8,127 votes
The case started on Tuesday October 24, at the Montserrado County National Elections Commission (NEC) , Hearing Office in Bentol , listened and transferred at NEC headquarters for enquiry.
On Wednesday October 25,
The National Elections Commission (NEC), Hearing officer, commenced the process as Bishop Donyen claimed there was an alteration in electoral tally sheets making him the victim to Unity Party (UP) candidate, Sekou Kanneh Victory.
In his complaint filed on Wednesday October 17. 2023 to the Hearing Officer at NEC, he said that Mathematics does not lie.
“The tally sheets from the Nineteen Voting Precincts of Electoral District Number Two, Montserrado County, say that I got the highest votes in Electoral District Number Two, Montserrado County, Republic of Liberia, at the end of the October 10, 2023 General Election in said District.
“Unfortunately, the National Elections Commission (NEC) of Liberia erred by not announcing me, Independent Candidate Nimely J. Donyen, as winner of the October 10, 2023 Election. I am therefore asking the National Elections Commission (NEC) of Liberia to correct the mistake and announce me, Independent Candidate Nimely J. Donyen, winner of the Representative Seat of Electoral District Number Two, Montserrado County, Republic of Liberia. To make it easy for NEC to realize her mistake, I request a perusal of all the tally sheets and a recount of the ballots, ” Bishop Nimley claims.
However, he is calling on his supporters to remain calm and any deal to announce a wrong winner in the distrust will meet strong resistance.
He claims , he is the winner of the election and is demanding NEC to see an urgent reason to have their mistake corrected or will use unspecified actions to protect his votes.
Speaking with the UP candidate, Sekou Kanneh, he failed to comment even though Journalists were eager to speak with him.
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