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    October 17, 2011

Liberia's President Faces Runoff

   VOA News

   Liberia's president says she is ready for a run-off vote, after falling
   short of the majority needed to win last week's presidential election
   outright.
   With nearly all the ballots counted, Liberia's National Elections
   Commission said Monday that President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has
   garnered 44 percent of the vote. Her top rival, former Justice Minister
   Winston Tubman, has won just over 32 percent.
   Former rebel leader and current Senator Prince Johnson came in third
   with nearly 12 percent.
   The latest tallies represent results from about 97 percent of all
   polling stations. Election officials have said they do not expect any
   candidate to get more than the 50 percent of the votes cast.
   The second-round election is scheduled for November 8.
   Election observers from the U.S.-based Carter Center and the Economic
   Community of West African States say the vote was largely free and
   fair.
   On Sunday, Tubman and other opposition members called off a threat to
   boycott a run-off election, after learning that no candidate had won
   enough votes to avoid a second-round poll.
   But they cautioned the National Election Commission to be very careful
   to avoid any fraud in the run-off.
   The October 11 vote was Liberia's second national election since the
   end of a 14-year civil war in 2003.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.