[October 25, 2011] Carter Center Wants Improvement At NEC Tweet Oct 25, 2011 (The New Dawn/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) -- Carter Center Liberia is calling for an improvement in the tally and tabulation procedures at the National Elections Commission. Addressing a news conference Monday, Alexander Bick, the Center Elections Director here said Liberia's procedure for tally election results is outlined in the Tally Procedures for the Presidential and Legislative Election 2011, approved by NEC on October 11, 2011. He said among many things, an efficient and transparent tally process is a critical component of a credible election that ensures the will of voters is accurately and comprehensively reflected in the results. "The Carter Center acknowledges steps taken by the NEC to improve the transparency of the tally process and to address complaints by political parties and independent candidates," Bick noted. He said in anticipation of a presidential run-off, the Center urges NEC to provide additional training to ensure that tally procedures are consistently and carefully applied. "We also call on political parties and independent candidates to submit any complaints about the elections to the NEC, according to established procedures, and to disseminate information about the tally process to their party agents," the Center lamented. It said in the aftermath of final pronouncement results, parties and candidates would have seven days to file formal complaints with the NEC, saying "These complaints must be resolved within 30 days." However, the Center said there is no evidence of systematic fraud or manipulation, which can affect the outcome of the 11 October polls here, with final pronouncement of the results expected today. It said its observers noted a number of clerical mistakes, computational errors, and minor procedural irregularities, but these did not affect total number of votes for any party or candidate. "On these basis of it observers report, it conclude that the observed irregularities did not jeopardize the integrity of the process as a whole and that there was no evidence of fraud." The CCL said in the follow-up to its 55-member delegation that observed the voting process during the country's October 11, presidential and legislative elections, it re-deployed seven teams of international observers to observe the tally process in 12 of the 19 magisterial offices in nine counties. "The tally process is conducted at the magistrate offices for all polling places within their respective magisterial areas. Three Tamper-Evident Envelopes, TEE1, TEE2, and TEE3 (the last of which includes, among other items, the record of the Count forms for all three elections) and a brown envelope containing polling day complaint (if any) submitted by the voters or party or candidate agents are delivered to the magistrate office by the responsible Electoral Supervisor," Bick noted. The Center said seven teams of its observers witnessed the tally process for the presidential and legislative elections in 12 of the 19 magisterial areas over the period October 12-17, 2011. The Center indicated that the observers' work included conducting interviews and observation in magistrate offices in Lower and Upper Montserrado, Bomi, Lower and Upper Bong, Grand Bassa, Lower and Upper Nimba, Grand Gedeh, Grand Cape Mount, Margibi, and Maryland counties, respectively. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]