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Liberians are voting in presidential run-off election after the two leading candidates were separated by just over 7,000 votes in the first round a month ago.<\/p>\n
They are choosing between incumbent and one-time football star George Weah and former Vice-President Joseph Boakai.<\/p>\n
The president narrowly won the first round but failed to get more than 50% of the vote, triggering the run-off.<\/p>\n
Voting in October was fraught with allegations of fraud and violence.<\/p>\n
The election commission said that nine of its temporary staff had been arrested over alleged ballot-tampering.<\/p>\n
The UN reported clashes between supporters of rival opposition parties.<\/p>\n
This is the fourth presidential election since the end more than 20 years ago of Liberia’s civil wars in which 250,000 people died.<\/p>\n
The BBC’s Moses Garzeawu in the capital, Monrovia, says the turnout for the run-off election is expected be high as Liberians are “hungry to vote”.<\/p>\n
Mr Weah, 57, who got 43.8% of the vote in the first round, and Mr Boakai, 78, who got 43.4%, have both been trying to build political alliances with the 18 other candidates who ran in the first round.<\/p>\n
None of them received more than 3% of the vote.<\/p>\n
Mr Boakai, who served as the vice-president to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa’s first elected female head of state, has secured the endorsement of three of the four best performing candidates, according to the Reuters news agency.<\/p>\n
In his campaigning, he has focused on investing in agriculture and infrastructure. Mr Weah has been talking about improving education and dealing with unemployment.<\/p>\n
This is the second time the two men have faced each other in a presidential election run-off vote.<\/p>\n
In 2017, Mr Weah triumphed over Mr Boakai, gaining 61% of the vote in the second round.<\/p>\n
That time, his international stardom helped his popularity among the youth and voters were also attracted by his promises to clamp down on corruption, analysts say.<\/p>\n
Polls opened at 08:00 local time (08:00 GMT) and will close at 18:00 local time (18:00 GMT), when vote counting will get under way.<\/p>\n
The victor will be sworn into office in January next year.<\/p>\n
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