MONROVIA, Oct. 17 (Xinhuanet) -- Liberia's National Elections Commission (NEC) chairman Frances Johnson-Morris said here on Monday evening that the run-off election will be held on November 8.

    Johnson-Morris said that "looking at the results from vote tallying and estimating a total turnout of approximately one million, which is about 74 percent of the 1.35 million registered voters, the NEC sees it prudent to begin preparations for a presidential election run-off."

    He added that "if the final results from tallying confirm this assessment, the run-off election will be held on November 8, 2005."

    The NEC boss said more than 95 percent of all polling places for the presidential election have now reported, adding that all 64 House districts including inaccessible areas have also submitted some figures.

    "A total of 970,704 votes of the 1.35 million registered votershave been counted and tallied", Johnson-Morris said, adding that "2,917 of the 3,070 polling stations have reported."

    This, she said, was a "record turnout of 74 percent of the polling places which have reported."

    Tallying of results in the west African state's first post-war elections indicates that football star George Weah and Liberia's foremost female politician Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf would go for the presidential run-off, as neither of the 22 presidential candidatescan now obtain the more than 50 percent votes required to win.

    Weah is however leading the poll with 28.8 percent while Johnson-Sirleaf is at 20 percent, making them the two leading candidates. In third position is former senator Charles Brumskine at 13.9 percent.

    Weah and Johnson-Sirleaf are set to make history in Africa. If Weah is elected, he would become the first African football star to head a nation while Johnson-Sirleaf, if elected, would become the first African woman head of state.

    Liberians went to the polls in large numbers as early as 0300 GMT on October 11 to elect a president from among 22 candidates and 94 legislators from among 718 candidates for the 30-seat Senate and 64-seat House of Representatives.

    The west African state had been ravaged by 14 years of civil war during which an estimated 250,000 people were killed and nearly one million made refugees.

    A comprehensive peace agreement among Liberia's warring partieswas brokered in August 2003 by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and put in place a power-sharing transitional government for two years with the mandate to disarm former combatants, reestablished civil authority throughout the country and hold national elections "not later than October 2005."

    The United Nations Mission in Liberia, with 15,000 peacekeepingtroops and more than 1,000 international police personnel, has reported a successful disarmament of 103,000 ex-combatants and assisted the government in reestablishing civil administration in Liberia.

    The current elections, under the auspices of the international community, are therefore seen as a "crucial step" at restoring peace, stability and good governance to the country. Enditem