Liberia is on the path to a presidential run-off election as the official provisional results show George Weah and Joseph Boakai neck and neck. Weah, the outgoing incumbent and a former international footballer running for a second term, gained 43.65 percent, while Boakai, 78, secured 43.70 percent, with more than 94 percent of the ballots counted. These figures suggest that neither candidate is set to win an absolute majority in the first round of voting. Ballot counting is nearly complete in about 93 percent of polling stations.
A run-off election is planned for two weeks after the official results are announced, though possible appeals may cause delays. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union have praised the Liberian government and the election commission for their role in conducting a peaceful vote with high voter participation. This election marks the first since the United Nations concluded its peacekeeping mission in Liberia in 2018, a mission established following two civil wars from 1989 to 2003 that resulted in over 250,000 deaths
