Elections in Liberia

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Elections in Liberia occur solely at the national level. The head of state, the President of Liberia, is elected to a six-year term in a two-round system, in which a run-off between the two candidates with the highest number of votes is held should no single candidate earn a majority of the vote in the first round. The Legislature has two elected chambers.

The House of Representatives has 73 members, elected to six-year terms by the first-past-the-post method in single-member districts. The Senate has 30 members, 2 from each county, elected at-large to nine-year terms by the first-past-the-post method. Senatorial elections are staggered, with one senator from each county being elected in elections held three years apart, followed by a six-year period in which no senatorial elections are held.

All citizens who are 18 years or older may register to vote in elections. Under Article 83(a) of the Constitution, elections are held on the second Tuesday of October every election year, with presidential run-off elections being held on the second Tuesday following the announcement of the results of the first round. Elections are regulated by the National Elections Commission of Liberia (NEC).

Latest elections

2011 Presidential elections

 Summary of the 11 October 2011 Liberian presidential election results
Candidate Party 1st round 2nd round
Votes % Votes %
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Unity Party 530,020 43.9 607,618 90.7
Winston Tubman Congress for Democratic Change 394,370 32.7 62,207 9.3
Prince Yormie Johnson National Union for Democratic Progress 139,786 11.6  
Charles Brumskine Liberty Party 65,800 5.5
Kennedy Sandy Liberia Transformation Party 13,612 1.1
Gladys Beyan Grassroot Democratic Party of Liberia 12,740 1.1
Togba-Nah Tipoteh Freedom Alliance Party of Liberia 7,659 0.6
Dew Mayson National Democratic Coalition 5,819 0.5
Manjerngie Ndebe Liberia Reconstruction Party 5,746 0.5
Simeon Freeman Movement for Progressive Change 5,559 0.5
Marcus Roland Jones Victory for Change Party 5,305 0.4
James Guseh Citizens Unification Party 5,025 0.4
Hananiah Zoe Liberia Empowerment Party 4,463 0.4
Chea Cheapoo Progressive People's Party 4,085 0.3
James Chelley Original Congress Party of Liberia 4,008 0.3
Jonathan A. Mason Union of Liberian Democrats 2,645 0.2
Invalid or blank votes 82,074 6.4 24,587 3.5
Totals 1,288,716 100 669,825 100
Turnout 71.6% 38.6%

2011 House elections

 Summary of the 11 October 2011 House of Representatives of Liberia election results
Political Party Candidates Votes % Seats +/– % of Seats
Unity Party 72 226,291 17.76 24 +2 32.9
Congress for Democratic Change 58 163,592 12.84 11 0 15.1
Liberty Party 68 117,285 9.20 7 +3 9.6
National Union for Democratic Progress 43 50,010 3.92 6 +6 8.2
National Democratic Coalition 61 73,144 5.74 5 +1 6.8
National Patriotic Party 21 42,420 3.33 3 -1 4.1
Alliance for Peace and Democracy 16 26,537 2.08 3 +2 4.1
Movement for Progressive Change 38 30,205 2.37 2 +2 2.7
Liberia Transformation Party 62 57,734 4.53 1 +1 1.4
Liberia Destiny Party 18 13,310 1.04 1 0 1.4
National Reformation Party 9 9,813 0.77 1 0 1.4
Original Congress Party of Liberia 22 17,613 1.38 0 0 0
National Democratic Party of Liberia 20 16,882 1.32 0 -1 0
Union of Liberian Democrats 22 15,199 1.19 0 -1 0
Victory for Change Party 17 10,744 0.84 0 0 0
Progressive Democratic Party 18 9,718 0.76 0 -1 0
Liberia Empowerment Party 10 9,174 0.72 0 0 0
Citizens Unification Party 17 8,946 0.70 0 0 0
Grassroot Democratic Party of Liberia 17 8,776 0.69 0 0 0
Liberia Reconstruction Party 16 8,641 0.68 0 -1 0
All Liberian Coalition Party 11 8,278 0.65 0 -3 0
Freedom Alliance Party of Liberia 12 7,077 0.56 0 0 0
Liberian National Union 4 5,347 0.42 0 0 0
Progressive People's Party 3 1,015 0.08 0 0 0
Republican Party of Liberia 3 991 0.08 0 0 0
National Social Democratic Party of Liberia 4 850 0.07 0 0 0
Independents 131 250,412 19.65 9 -1 12.3
Invalid or blank votes - 84,182 6.61 -  
Total 793 1,274,186 100 73

2011 Senate elections

 Summary of the 11 October 2011 Senate of Liberia election results
Political Party Seats Before Election Seats Not Up Seats Up Candidates Votes % Seats New total seats +/– % of seats
Unity Party 11 6 5 13 164,851 12.85 4 10 -1 33.33
National Patriotic Party 3 2 1 7 70,260 5.48 4 6 +3 20.00
Congress for Democratic Change 2 1 1 5 259,161 20.20 2 3 +1 10.00
National Union for Democratic Progress 1 1 0 4 51,494 4.01 1 2 +1 6.66
Alliance for Peace and Democracy 3 1 2 4 29,777 2.32 1 2 -1 6.66
Liberty Party 2 1 1 14 134,357 10.47 0 1 -1 3.33
National Democratic Coalition 0 0 0 6 41,717 3.25 1 1 +1 3.33
Liberia Destiny Party 1 0 1 5 19,993 1.56 1 1 0 3.33
National Democratic Party of Liberia 1 1 0 2 2,440 0.19 0 1 0 3.33
Union of Liberian Democrats 2 0 2 2 9,834 0.77 0 0 -3 0
All Liberia Coalition Party 1 0 1 2 9,745 0.76 0 0 -1 0
Liberia Transformation Party 0 0 0 7 48,180 3.76 0 0 0 0
Movement for Progressive Change 0 0 0 4 18,098 1.41 0 0 0 0
Victory for Change Party 0 0 0 3 6,956 0.54 0 0 0 0
Grassroot Democratic Party of Liberia 0 0 0 1 4,515 0.35 0 0 0 0
Liberian National Union 0 0 0 1 3,756 0.29 0 0 0 0
Freedom Alliance Party of Liberia 0 0 0 2 2,697 0.21 0 0 0 0
National Reformation Party 0 0 0 1 714 0.06 0 0 0 0
Original Congress Party of Liberia 0 0 0 1 403 0.03 0 0 0 0
Independents 3 2 1 15 317,265 24.73 1 3 0 10.00
Invalid or blank votes - - - - 86,874 6.77 - -  
Totals 30 15 15 99 1,283,087 100 15 30

2011 Referendum

  Results of 23 August 2011 Liberian constitutional referendum[1]
Amendment Description Yes No Invalid or blank
Votes % Votes % Votes %
Amendment to Article 52(c) Reducing presidential residency requirement from 10 to 5 years. 292,318 47.48% 246,473 40.03% 76,912 12.49%
Amendment to Article 72(b) Increasing mandatory retirement age of judges from 70 to 75. 221,163 35.92% 322,223 52.33% 72,317 11.75%
Amendment to Article 83(a) Moving election date to the second Tuesday of November. 307,647 49.97% 234,517 38.09% 73,539 11.94%
Amendment to Article 83(b) Using single-round first-past-the-post voting for all legislative and municipal elections. 364,901 59.27% 174,469 28.34% 76,333 12.40%
Total ballots cast 615,703
Voter turnout 34.22%

Past elections

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Final Results of the National Referendum". National Elections Commission. August 31, 2011. Retrieved August 31, 2011.

External links