Liberia’s Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected the opposition’s appeal to halt the country’s ongoing universal voter registration and the October presidential and legislative elections.
The Collaborating Political Parties (CPP) argued that it was unconstitutional to list voters without first defining constituencies in accordance with the most recent national census.
However, the court stated in a majority decision that it did not see any justification for “disturbing” the voter registration process because the National Elections Commission (NEC) did not, as claimed, violate the constitution.
The court determined that the case was not an election matter.
The court ruling allows the electoral body to move ahead with phase two of the voter registration exercise, having already conducted phase one last month, which was overshadowed by a series of technical glitches.
Liberia’s population has grown by 50.4% to 5.2 million people, according to 2022 provisional results released in February.
Opposition fears the new numbers might be manipulated to favour President George Weah who is facing strong challenges in his re-election bid.