Liberia's Weah, Boakai Step Closer to Presidential Runoff Vote
Liberia's Weah, Boakai Step Closer to Presidential Runoff Vote
(Bloomberg) -- Former A.C. Milan soccer starter George Weah and Vice President Joseph Boakai are closer to running in a second-round vote in Liberia’s presidential election as they have the most votes with 74 percent of polling stations tallied.
Weah had 39.2 percent of the vote and Boakai got 29.6 percent, with about 1.1 million ballots counted, Jerome Korkoya, chairman of the National Elections Commission, told reporters on Saturday in the capital, Monrovia. The commission didn’t say how many of the 2.2 million registered voters took part in the poll.
A run-off vote will be scheduled in November if none of the 20 candidates garners a 50 percent majority.
Liberians are choosing a leader to replace President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who steps down after 12 years in office. The election could see Liberia transfer power from one elected leader to another for the first time in more than half a century.
The NEC will announce the final results on Oct. 25.
To contact the reporter on this story: Festus Poquie in Johannesburg at fpoqie@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Andre Janse van Vuuren at ajansevanvuu@bloomberg.net, Steve Geimann