Nomination Procedures for the 2023 General Elections final

2023 General Elections

Nomination and Registration Procedures

 Table of Contents

Pages

Definitions……………………………………………………………………………………          3

Candidate Nomination Period……………………………………………………………….           4

General Eligibility Criteria………………………………………………………………….            4

Nomination Fees …………………………………………………………………………….           4

Processing Fees of Petition List ………………………………………………………………         4

Issuing Nomination Applications……………………………………………………………           4

COVID 19 Measures ………….…………………………………………………………….           .4

Upon Entering the Nomination Center….……………………………………………………          5

Use of Symbols ………………………………………………………………………………          5

Scrutiny of an Aspirant’s Registration package ………………………………………………         6

Publication of the Provisional List of Aspirants……………………………………………….        6

Corrections to the Provisional List of Candidates……………………………………………….       6

Challenge to the Provisional List ……………….……………………………………………….      7

Period for Permissible withdrawal ………………………………………………………………      8

Definitions

In these candidate nomination/registration procedures for the 2023 General Elections, unless the context otherwise indicates:

• Commission – means the National Elections Commission
• General Elections – means any election for the offices of the President, Vice President, Senators, and Representatives held every six (6) years.
• Alliance or Coalition – means two (2) or more political parties accredited by the National Elections Commission (NEC) as a single entity for the purpose of participating in an election, while maintaining their individual identities;
• Candidate Nomination Application – means the registration documents that an aspirant, whether running on the ticket of a political party, coalition, alliance, or independently, submits to the Commission to stand for nomination in the 2023 General Elections;
• Aspirant – means anyone canvassing for elective public office.
• Candidate – means any individual who has been endorsed by a political party, coalition or alliance, or who runs as an independent candidate for an elective public office and has been duly accredited by the NEC;
• Campaign – means to canvass for votes;
• Domicile – refers to the residence in the constituency of an aspirant or candidate who seeks elective public office in which he/she lives and pays taxes;
• Voter – means any qualified person who has been regularly registered and is in possession of a Registration Card and whose name appears on a Registration Roll;

Candidate Nomination Period

Aspirants/candidates’ registration for the 2023 General Elections will commence on Wednesday, June 14, 2023 at the nomination center, located in the Samuel Kanyon Doe (SKD) Sports Complex in Paynesville, Montserrado County and end on Friday, July 14, 2023 at 5:00PM at the SKD Sports Complex.

During the nomination period, between the hours of 09:00 A.M. to 05:00 P.M. (Monday through Saturday), aspirants shall submit nomination application/registration documents to the NEC Nomination Team at the Nomination Center. An aspirant must personally appear at the nomination center (during the nomination period) to submit his or her nomination application/registration documents.

General Eligibility Criteria

An aspirant, whether nominated by a political party, coalition, or alliance or applying independently must:

1. Meet the candidate eligibility criteria;
2. Fulfill the application requirements; and
3. Appear in person for registration at the SKD Sports Complex.

Nomination Fees

All aspirants must pay the applicable nonrefundable application and registration as stated under Section 7.3.2 of the Elections Law.

Processing Fee of Petition List

An independent aspirant must pay the applicable nonrefundable processing fee for his/her Petition List, as stated in the application requirements.

In addition to the requirements above, each aspirant must satisfy the application requirements issued by the Commission and submit the documents to the NEC during the nomination period:

Issuing Nomination Package

Nomination package will be available for pickup at the Candidate Nomination Help Desk, beginning Monday, June 12, 2023 at the SKD Sports Complex.

Political parties, coalitions, alliances or independent aspirants may pick up the registration package at the Nomination Center. The national Chairperson or national Secretary General of a political party, coalition or alliance may pick up the Registration Package.

It is the responsibility of the aspirant to carefully read the nomination procedures and other information on how to complete the forms and what documents and procedures are required in order to get nominated as a candidate for public office.

COVID-19 MEASURES

Aspirants are required to fully comply with all measures and procedures of the MOH and NPHIL relative to the COVID-19 measures, including the following:

1. Wear face mask at all times during processing at the Nomination Center;
2. Wash hands or use hand sanitizers before and after their processing;
3. Observe social distancing;

upon entering the nomination center

An Aspirant will:

• Proceed to the Help Desk and write his or her name in the register (or on a sign-in sheet?).
• Be escorted by the Protocol Officer to the Document Verification desk where verification officers will confirm whether the aspirant has been nominated by a political party or is applying as an independent aspirant.
• Hand over the completed registration application package to the Verification Officer. If the verification officer finds that the aspirant does not have all the required forms and documentation in his/her package, the Document Verification Officer will return the package to the aspirant. The aspirant may return to the Nomination Center, during the nomination period, with all the necessary forms and/or documents. If the Documentation Verification Officer confirms that the aspirant has all required forms and documentation, the aspirant will be escorted to an area in the Nomination Center to wait for his/her turn to be processed.

Use of Symbols

1. If an aspirant is endorsed by a political party, coalition or alliance, he/she shall use the symbol of that party, coalition, or alliance that was submitted to the NEC.  The Data Entry Officer of the Nomination Team will attach the appropriate symbol to the aspirant’s application;
2. In the case of an independent aspirant, he/she should provide the Aspirant Desk Officer with his/her symbol, stored on a compact disc (CD).  If an independent aspirant does not have a symbol or provides one that is similar to a symbol submitted by another aspirant and cannot be accepted, the aspirant will have the option of returning with an appropriate symbol within the nomination period.

Scrutiny of an Aspirant’s Registration Package

• Receipt of the completed forms and documents does not constitute an acceptance of the aspirant’s registration as additional processes, scrutiny, and display must be completed. The NEC may take all lawful steps, including the holding of an investigation/hearing to verify the accuracy of the information and documentation submitted by an aspirant, political party, coalition, or alliance so as to ascertain whether the aspirant is qualified under the Liberian Constitution, the Elections Law, National Code of Conduct, and/or the Regulations.

• The Candidate Nomination Committee of the NEC shall notify an aspirant of its decision to accept or reject the aspirant’s application. An aspirant whose application has been rejected by the Committee may, within 24 hours following receipt of the said decision, perfect his/her appeal to the NEC Board of Commissioners. An aspirant dissatisfied with the rejection decision of the Board of Commissioners may, within 48 hours following receipt of the said decision, perfect his/her appeal to the Honorable Supreme Court.

Publication of the Provisional List of Candidates

• The NEC will publish the Provisional List of Candidates on the NEC’s website at necliberia.org.

Corrections to the Provisional List of Candidates

• Aspirants are encouraged to review the Provisional List for any inaccuracies made by the NEC. An Aspirant whose information on the Provisional List is incorrect may within two (2) days of the publication of the Provisional List request in writing that the Commission corrects the inaccurate information. Corrections may be made on the following grounds:

1. Incorrect recording or publication of the aspirant’s name and or positioning on the ballot paper;
2. Incorrect or misplacement of the party’s/aspirant’s symbol;
3. Incorrect or misplacement of the party’s/aspirant’s photograph; and/or
4. Incorrect county/district assignment.

Challenge to Name on the Provisional List

An aspirant, political party, coalition or alliance may challenge the eligibility of a candidate from the beginning of the registration process up to two (2) days after the publication of the Provisional List of Candidates. The following are grounds for challenge:

That the candidate:

1. Is not a Liberian citizen;
2. Has not attained the constitutional age;
3. Has not been domiciled in the Electoral District, County one year prior to October 10, 2023 (the General Election) (Representative and Senator).
4. Has not been resident in the Republic for ten years immediately prior to October 10, 2023 (President & Vice President).

Any challenge to a candidate on the Provisional List must be submitted to the NEC, in writing, with all relevant documents/evidence in support of the said challenge, within two (2) days of the publication of the Provisional List.  The Hearing section will make a decision on the issue after evaluating and reviewing the matter.  If a challenger or the challenged candidate is not satisfied with the Committee’s decision, that challenger or the challenged aspirant/candidate may, within 24 hours following receipt of the said decision, perfect its appeal to the NEC Board of Commissioners. A challenger or challenged aspirant/candidate dissatisfied with the Board’s decision may, within 48 hours following receipt of the said decision, perfect its appeal to the Honorable Supreme Court.

Period for Permissible Withdrawal

A candidate may withdraw from contesting an election by giving written notice to the Commission no later than seven (7) days after the last day for receiving nomination; and a withdrawal notice after this period is void. This does not apply to the second round of a presidential election.  

The notice of withdrawal shall be as follows:

• The signature of an independent aspirant shall be sufficient to effect his/her withdrawal.

• If the aspirant is endorsed by a political party, coalition or alliance, said withdrawal can only be affected under the joint signatures of the aspirant and chairperson of the party.

• Registration and/or processing fees once paid is non-refundable.

DONE UNDER OUR HANDS AND SEAL OF THE NATIONAL ELECTIONS COMMISSION (NEC), IN THE CITY OF MONROVIA, THIS _______TH DAY OF MARCH, 2023.

____________________________             _______________________________

Hon. Josephine Kou Gaye                          Hon. Barsee L. Kpangbai

COMMISSIONER                                  COMMISSIONER

______________________________              _______________________________

Cllr. Ernestine Morgan-Awar                       Hon. Floyd  Oxley Sayor

COMMISSIONER                                  COMMISSIONER

____________________________           _______________________________

Hon. Boakai A. Dukuly                             Cllr. Teplah Reeves

COMMISSIONER                                  CO-CHAIRPERSON

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Hon. Davidetta Browne-Lansanah

CHAIRPERSON