5 This is the backdrop to which, under the constitutional authority and mandate, the Presidential and Representatives Elections of 2017 were expected to be planned and conducted by the National Elections Commission (NEC). It was on the strength of the foregoing and the constitutional, statutory and regulatory mandates that the NEC planned and conducted the referenced elections on October 10, 2017. We take note, as it is a matter of public records and this Court has the statutory right and obligation, as a part of its constitutional duty and responsibility as the final arbiter of disputes in the nation, that seventeen (17) political parties and three (3) independent candidates participated in the elections; that a total of 984 candidates, including independent candidates, contested for the seventy-three (73) seats provided for in the House of Representatives; that a total of 20 candidates contested for the presidency and 20 for the vice presidency. The records certified to this Court revealed that the elections mentioned herein, having been conducted by the NEC, the results were announced incrementally by the NEC, through its Chairman, Counsellor Jerome G. Korkoya, on a timetable set by the NEC; and that the process culminated in the announcement of the final results on October 20, 2017, ten (10) days after the elections were held. In the announcement of the Final Results, the NEC indicated that the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), which fielded George Manneh Weah as its presidential candidate and Jewel Howard Taylor as its vice presidential candidate, had massed the highest number of votes, being five hundred ninety-six thousand thirty-seven (596,037.37) votes or 38.4 percent (38.4%) of the total valid votes cast, while the Unity Party (UP), which fielded Joseph Nyumah Boakai as its presidential candidate and Emmanuel N. Nuquay as its vice presidential candidate, had massed the second highest number of votes, being four hundred forty-six thousand seven hundred sixteen (446,716) votes or 28.8 percent (28.8%) of the total valid votes cast. The Liberty Party (LP), which fielded Charles Walker Brumskine as its presidential candidate and Harrison S. Karnwea as its vice presidential candidate, was said to have massed one hundred forty-nine thousand four hundred ninety-five (149,495) votes, being 9.6 percent (9.6%) of the total valid votes cast. We take note, as we are legally obliged to do, that