The National Election Commission (NEC) on Thursday officially launched a Report on Feasibility Study for possible introduction of a new technology in voter registration and elections in Liberia. The new technology is the Biometric Voter Registration or BVR for short.
NEC Chairperson, Cllr. Davidetta Browne Lansanah, launching the BVR commended international partners for the level of support that led to the successful report on the feasibility study that could lead to the possible introduction of the new technology in voter registration and elections in Liberia.
Cllr. Browne Lansanah said the NEC will continue to work with other agencies of government as well as the Internal Affairs Ministry and partners to ensure that the commission continues to conduct free, fair, credible and transparent throughout Liberia.
Also speaking, Internal Affairs Minister Varney A. Sirleaf and the House Chair, for the Committee on Elections and Inauguration, Representative Matthew Zaza, pledged their organization’s support to the successful introduction of BVR into the voter registration and elections in Liberia. Minister Sirleaf said the Government of Liberia (GOL), through President George Weah, supports the holding of consistent elections as the best way forward to main the peace and stability the country enjoys today. For his part, Representative Matthew Zaza, speaking on behalf of House Speaker, Dr. Bhufol Chambers, informed the NEC that the House of Representatives stands ready to support the budget of the NEC to ensure the smooth implementation and achievement of the BVR technology in Liberia. Executives of political parties, through Gabriel Salee, welcomed the introduction of BVR but with reservation, underscoring that any national voter registration roll that will be developed for the 2023 general elections must be inclusive and critically examined by all stakeholders to ensure that only Liberians are registered to vote.
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Chief Technical Advisor, Election Project in Liberia, Lenka Homolkova, the Elections Project Head at the European Union, EU, Laura Virgili, the Executive Director of the National Identification Registry, NIR, Teah Nabge and the Head of Cooperation at the Swedish Embassy, Johan Romare, all promised their individual organizations’ support to the achievement of biometric voter registration in Liberia.