The two leading contenders in the just ended Liberia elections will compete once again in a run-off early next month after none of the candidates attained 50% plus one vote to win the presidency.

After counting nearly all the results from Tuesday’s polls, the National Electoral Commission (NEC) announced that Former football star George Weah is in the lead with 39.2% of votes cast whiles the incumbent Vice-President Joseph Boakai trails him in second place with 29.6% of the votes.

In third place is lawyer Charles Brumskine with 9.8%. Mr Brumskine however has described the elections as fraudulent and said “the October 10 elections did not pass the minimum standards required for free, fair and transparent elections. These elections were characterized by gross irregularities and fraud which undermined the integrity of the elections and deprived thousands of Liberians their constitutional rights to vote.”

NEC chairperson Korkoya has ordered a re-run in the town of Dulay, where a presiding officer was allegedly caught stuffing extra ballots by an observer after polls had closed.

The NEC said 1,193 331 votes have been counted so far, with turnout at 74.35%

On 10 October, 20 candidates competed to succeed Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa's first female elected president and a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.

AEP

Get the latest news and updates on elections in Africa by Following us on twitter  @africanelection and like the African Elections Project Facebook page