MONROVIA, Liberia, Oct. 15 (UPI) -- Eight opposition parties in Liberia said they're pulling out of the presidential election, claiming fraud in vote-counting.
The BBC reported Saturday the parties claim the National Elections Commission manipulated the vote-counting to give President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf the lead.
The British broadcaster said partial results show Sirleaf leads but lacks the majority necessary to avoid a runoff with the second-place finisher.
The electoral commission said Sirleaf had captured 45.4 percent of the vote, Winston Tubman 29.5 percent and Prince Johnson 11.4 percent. Tubman's Congress for Democratic Change and Johnson's National Union for Democratic Progress were among the parties pulling out of the election.
The election commission has until Oct. 26 to announce results.
Sirleaf, a co-winner of this year's Nobel Peace prize, was elected in 2005, becoming Liberia's first democratically elected president since the end of the country's 14-year civil war in 2003.
This year's election marked the first conducted independently by Liberians.
Nearly 150,000 people died and another 850,000 fled to neighboring countries during the civil war in Liberia.
