Grand Kru’s First-Time Voters to Launch Civic and Voter Education Campaign Ahead of Landmark Elections

BARCLAYVILLE, Grand Kru – As the crucial Presidential and Legislative Elections slated for October 10 draw closer, the First-Time Voters of Grand Kru County are gearing up to initiate a Civic and Voter Education (CVE) campaign in Barclayville, set to kick off in just 34 days.

In a telephone conversation with our Grand Kru Correspondent on Tuesday morning, Raymond Juwle Mah, the head of the First-Time Voters group in the county, revealed that the CVE campaign launch is expected to be graced by officials from the National Elections Commission, local government representatives, and county residents, including representatives from line government ministries and agencies.

Mah explained that the primary objective of the CVE launch is to empower all eligible citizens aged 18 and above with essential knowledge on how to conduct themselves during the election period.

Highlighting the planned activities, Mah announced that the campaign would commence with a parade through the main streets of Barclayville on September 17, 2023. He emphasized that the campaign’s core focus is to raise awareness about ongoing electoral processes and is firmly committed to non-violence in the lead-up to the October 10, 2023, Presidential and Legislative elections.

Notably, these upcoming elections will mark the first time in Liberia’s history where a biometric voters’ register will be used, despite the actual voting process remaining manual, similar to the previous optical manual registration (OMR) system.

According to the National Elections Commission, a total of 2,471,617 voters are registered, with 1,030 candidates, 2,080 electoral precincts, and 5,890 polling places across the country.

With Liberia’s population, as per the Liberia Statistics and Geo Information Services (LISGIS), standing at 5.2 million people, approximately 60 percent of whom are youths, political parties are actively engaging with this youthful demographic, particularly the first-time voters who constitute a significant portion of the voting populace.

By Emmanuel Printers, Correspondent, Grand Kru