Liberian voter turnout low as Ebola overshadows senate election

• published: 21 Dec 2014
• views: 553

Turnout for Liberian parliamentary elections on Saturday (December 20) appeared to be low as concerns about Ebola kept many voters at home. Polling stations were largely empty after voting began at 8 a.m. (0800 GMT) in the seafront capital Monrovia, with voters occasionally drifting in, despite precautions put in place by the National Elections Commission (NEC). Staff with temperature guns at polling stations checked voters for any signs of the hemorrhagic fever, which is spread via bodily fluids. Voters were obliged to wash their hands with chlorine solution, to stand at least three feet apart in the queue, and bring their own pens to mark the ballot paper, officials said. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's government had delayed the polls, originally due in October, amid concerns that campaigning might worsen the spread of the Ebola virus. The Supreme Court ruled this month that the election must go ahead. "I feel it was not right to have elections because people die a lot, and they are saying that Ebola is still in Liberia, but because they are so power greedy, and they need power, so they want to risk the life of the Liberian people to vote for them," said Korpu Kpatawee, a Monrovia resident. Some 1.9 million Liberians were registered to vote in the polls for 15 seats in the senate being contested by 137 candidates, according to the NEC. In the most hotly contested race, for the Montserrado senate seat around Monrovia, former soccer star and 2005 losing presidential candidate George Weah faced off against Robert Sirleaf, the son of the president. Vote counting began after polls closed at 6 p.m. (1800 GMT) and the first results were expected on Sunday (December 21), electoral officials said. The death toll from Ebola in Liberia, neighbouring Guinea and Sierra Leone, the three worst-affected countries in West Africa, has risen to 7,373 from 19,031 cases, the World Health Organization said on Saturday. Sierra Leone accounts for the most cases, 8,759, against 7,819 for Liberia, which has shown an improvement in recent weeks after the epidemic exploded there in August, the WHO has said. For more news and videos visit ☛ http://ntdtv.tv Follow us on Twitter ☛ http://twitter.com/NTDTelevision Add us on Facebook ☛ http://on.fb.me/s5KV2C