Elections in Liberia
This article is part of a series on the politics and government of 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
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
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
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
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
- ↑ "Final Results of the National Referendum". National Elections Commission. August 31, 2011. Retrieved August 31, 2011.