Too close to call in Liberian election as counting continues

Liberians have been taking part in an election to pick a new president in a run-off vote between vice-president Joseph Boakai and former international footballer George Weah.

Mr Weah, 51, won the first round of votes but did not secure the required 50 per cent of the vote to claim an outright victory.

Legal challenges had delayed the vote to replace Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa’s first elected female president.

After the close of polls last night, analysts said turnout had “seemed to be have been low”.

The result – expected later this week – is set to lead to the first smooth transfer of power in 73 years in the West African nation which was founded by freed American slaves. More than two million people were eligible to cast their ballots in a nation of 4.6 million people.

Seventy-three-year-old Mr Boakai, Liberia’s vice-president for the past 12 years, said: “This is a great day because it is a test of democracy. We have delayed, we’ve gone through the court process, this is what the process has produced and we are prepared to live with it.”

His opponent, former AC Milan and Paris Saint-germain football player Mr Weah, has stood for election twice before.

He defeated Ms Johnson Sirleaf in the first round in 2005 but lost to her in the subsequent run-off.

In the following election’s run-off, in 2011, when he ran as a running mate to the opposition candidate, his coalition boycotted the vote, citing irregularities.

Speaking after he voted, Mr Weah said: “This is a good process, and a very peaceful one, which is most important. We subscribe to a peaceful and free and fair election, so we know the process will be transparent. It’s what we hope for.”

Nobel Peace Prize winner Ms Johnson Sirleaf, 79, is stepping down after two terms in office that brought the impoverished country out of back-to-back civil wars and saw it grapple with a deadly Ebola outbreak.

The run-off had been contested twice in court amid claims of irregularities. The first-round October election saw high numbers of voters and officials had hoped the latest vote would be no different.

The National Elections Commission has said voter lists have been cleaned up according to Supreme Court orders.

As polls closed around 6 pm, election workers said turnout was down on October “because legislative candidates who were helping transport people to polling stations were not participating in this vote”.

Some Liberians complained they were unable to find their names at voting stations and were unable cast a ballot.