Liberia Vice President, Ex-Football Star Head to Runoff Vote
- Former A.C. Milan player Weah wins most votes, Boakai second
- Runoff on Nov. 7 to determine Ellen Johnson Sirleaf successor
George Weah casts his vote for Liberia's elections, at a polling station in Monrovia on Oct. 10, 2017.
Photographer: Issouf Sanogo/AFP via Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Liberia’s soccer star turned politician George Weah and Vice President Joseph Boakai will face each other in a runoff vote for the presidency next month after neither candidate secured a majority needed for an outright win.
Weah had 38.4 percent of the votes in the Oct. 10 election, while Boakai got 28.8 percent with all ballots counted, Jerome Korkoya, chairman of the National Elections Commission, told reporters on Thursday in the capital, Monrovia. Weah received the most votes in 11 of Liberia’s 15 counties in the election in which the turnout was about 1.6 million of the 2.2 million registered voters, Korkoya said.