George Weah, a former soccer star who has been president since 2018, ran neck and neck with his main opponent in a rematch of the West African country’s last such contest.
Liberia’s closest election in two decades is heading to a runoff, according to official provisional results announced by the West African nation’s electoral commission, after neither the country’s president nor his main opponent secured a majority.
The election, held on Oct. 10, was the first such contest to be fully organized by Liberia’s government without financial support or assistance from international partners since the end in 2003 of a 14-year civil war that left 250,000 people dead.
As of Wednesday, the incumbent, George Weah, a former soccer superstar, had secured 43.8 percent of the vote, with more than 98 percent of the ballots counted. Joseph Boakai, a veteran of Liberian politics who served as vice president from 2006 to 2018, was trailing slightly, with 43.5 percent of the vote.
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Elian Peltier is the West Africa correspondent. He joined The Times in 2017 and was previously based in Paris and London. He now lives in Dakar, Senegal. More about Elian Peltier
A version of this article appears in print on Oct. 19, 2023, Section A, Page 11 of the New York edition with the headline: Liberia Presidential Election Heads to November Runoff.
