Updated: Liberia Decides, Results Counting Continues as George Weah and Joseph Boakai Battle Top Seat.

Following the near completion of vote counting in Liberia's election, President George Weah and his primary competitor Joseph Boakai remain in a close race, indicating that a run-off is likely. 

Provisional results reveal that Mr. Weah presently holds 43.8% of the vote, while Mr. Boakai trails closely behind with 43.5%. To secure victory, a candidate must receive over 50% of the votes. Notably, the election on October 10th marked Liberia's most fiercely contested presidential race since the conclusion of a civil war twenty years ago.

Having counted the votes in over 98% of polling stations, the election commission has announced the latest results, revealing that Mr Weah is currently ahead with a margin of 5,456 votes. Due to tampering by unidentified individuals, voting will be repeated in certain areas of Sinoe, Nimba, and Montserrado counties on Friday. 

In the initial round, none of the other 18 presidential candidates obtained more than 3% of the votes. Consequently, the two main contenders are expected to seek the endorsement of the other candidates, as every vote will be crucial in the run-off.

In the 2017 election, the president emerged victorious in the run-off with 61.5% of the votes, while Mr Boakai received 38.5%. The initial round of the election saw the president garnering the highest number of votes at 38.4%, compared to Mr Boakai's 28.8%. This implies that Mr Boakai performed relatively better in the just concluded election.