Trouble brewing in Liberian election panel

An authority at Liberia's National Elections Commission denied allegations he was paid off by the opposition Congress for Democratic Change. Sixteen candidates took part in the Oct. 11 contest. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf won 43.9 percent of the vote and former diplomat Winston Tubman secured 32.7 percent of the estimated 1.3 million votes cast. A candidate needs a majority to claim victory, which has led to a Nov. 8 runoff. Bobby Livingstone was dismissed as the communications director for the NEC following claims he was a stooge for the opposition Congress for Democratic Change, which fielded Tubman as its presidential candidate. James Fromayan, who served as the head of the NEC, signed a letter saying the CDC got the highest number of votes in the October election. He later said the letter was the work of a "paid CDC agent," Voice of America reports. Fromayan himself has resigned amid claims of vote rigging. The CDC initially objected to a runoff vote. Livingston said a subordinate may have "transposed" the letter after it left his hands, VOA adds. Election observers had initially said the October contest was largely fair. The election was the country's second since a bloody civil war ended in 2003 and the first run independently by the Liberians.