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may designate for public inspection. The Commission may by regulation either
general or applicable to any particular roll, specify the method or preparation and
prescribe the Rules and Regulations to be observed in regard thereto." Elections
Law, Rev. Code 11:3.6, 3.10. They asserted that although the non-compliance by
the NEC with this very important provision of the law was brought to the attention
of the CDHO, he failed to deal with the issue in his ruling; that the issue having been
excepted to and raised again at the level of the Board of Commis-sioners of the
NEC, that Body dismissed the claim, stating that its interpretation of the law was
that only the Provisional Registration Roll was required to be published at each
polling place.
This Court is taken aback by the interpretation which the Board of
Commissioners gave to the provision of the statute in light of its own Regulations
promulgated under authority of the very statute. Our review of the laws reveals
that in furtherance of the provision of the Elections Law, quoted above, the NEC
promulgated Article 22 of the General Provisions of the Compilation Regulations as
a mean of effectuating section 3.6 of the referenced Elections Law. The said Article
provides as follow:
"22.1. The NEC shall certify the Final Registration Roll and print one
copy for each polling place.
22.2. Copies of the certified Final Registration Roll shall be the
Registration Roll for all polling places and shall remain in force until
rendered invalid by subsequent certified Registration Rolls.
22.3. The NEC shall make a copy of the certified Final Registration Roll
available at the office of the Magistrate of Elections for viewing during
ordinary business hours.
22.4. The NEC shall make electronic copies of the certified Registration
Roll available at the Headquarters to electoral stakeholders upon
request.
22.5. No certified Final Registration Roll shall be altered within a
period of thirty (30) days immediately prior to an election, including
Election Day or Referendum, except upon orders of the Supreme Court
of Liberia on the determination of a manifest error."
The parties appearing before the Supreme Court do not dispute the validity
of the provisions of the law quoted hereinbefore or the regulation derived
therefrom, also quoted above. Rather, they dispute the applicability of the law with
regards to the publication of the Final Registration Roll (FRR). The Board of
Commissioners of the NEC, and indeed the NEC, hold the view that notwith-