Elections in Liberia

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).

The first round of a general election to elect the President and House of Representatives on 10 October 2017, resulted in a run-off between ex-football star George Weah and Vice President Joseph Boakai.^[1] George Weah won the run-off with more than 60% of the ballots cast.^[2]

Latest elections[edit]

Presidential elections[edit]

No candidate won a majority in the first round, with Weah narrowly placing first over opposition leader Joseph Boakai, which meant both advanced to a runoff held on 14 November 2023.^[3]^[4]

Boakai defeated Weah 51% to 49% in the closest runoff in Liberia's electoral history.^[5]^[6]


Candidate		Running mate	Party	First round		Second round
Candidate		Running mate	Party	Votes	%	Votes	%
	George Weah	Jewel Taylor	Coalition for Democratic Change	804,087	43.83	793,914	49.36
	Joseph Boakai	Jeremiah Koung	Unity Party	796,961	43.44	814,481	50.64
	Edward W. Appleton	Alex Gontee	Grassroots Development Movement	40,271	2.20
	Lusinee Kamara	Matthew Darblo	All Liberia Coalition Party	35,988	1.96
	Alexander B. Cummings Jr.	Charlyne Brumskine	Collaborating Political Parties	29,613	1.61
	Tiawan Saye Gongloe	Emmanuel Yarkpawolo	Liberian People's Party	26,394	1.44
	Allen R. Brown Jr.	Noosevett Weah	Liberia Restoration Party	15,607	0.85
	Simeon Freeman	James Barclay	Movement for Progressive Change	13,205	0.72
	William Wiah Tuider	Jonah Dumoe	Democratic National Allegiance	11,184	0.61
	Joshua Tom Turner	Somah Paygai	New Liberia Party	9,813	0.53
	Jeremiah Whapoe	Erasmus Fahnbulleh	Vision for Liberia Transformation	9,149	0.50
	Luther Yorfee	Juvenal Pearson	Liberia Rebuilding Party	6,479	0.35
	Bendu Kromah	Thomas Kruah	Independent	5,991	0.33
	Clarence Moniba	Grace-Tee Kpaan	Liberia National Union	5,298	0.29
	Sherikh Kouyateh	Max Vargbelee	Liberia First Movement	5,100	0.28
	David Kiamu	Annie Tuazama	Democratic People's Party of Liberia	5,086	0.28
	Alexander Kollie	Grace Yuan	Reformers National Congress	4,398	0.24
	Sara Beysolow Nyanti	Simeon Moribah	African Liberation League	3,644	0.20
	Robert Franz Morris	Celia Brown	Independent	3,363	0.18
	Richard Saye Miller	Emike Slawon	Liberian for Prosperity Party	2,885	0.16
Total				1,834,516	100.00	1,608,395	100.00

Valid votes				1,834,516	94.12	1,608,395	98.42
Invalid/blank votes				114,639	5.88	25,788	1.58
Total votes				1,949,155	100.00	1,634,183	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				2,471,617	78.86	2,471,617	66.12
Source: NEC (candidates), NEC

House of Representatives elections[edit]


Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Coalition for Democratic Change	401,921	22.12	25	+4
	Unity Party	237,931	13.09	11	−9
	Collaborating Political Parties (ANC–LP)	137,909	7.59	6	New
	People's Unification Party	78,913	4.34	2	−3
	Movement for Democracy and Reconstruction	50,408	2.77	4	+2
	All Liberian Party	45,886	2.53	1	−2
	Liberia National Union	42,179	2.32	1	0
	Movement for One Liberia	38,884	2.14	0	New
	Liberian People's Party	35,400	1.95	0	−1
	National Development Party	32,202	1.77	0	New
	Economic Freedom Fighters of Liberia	26,102	1.44	0	New
	All Liberia Coalition Party	23,436	1.29	0	New
	African Liberation League	20,562	1.13	0	New
	Liberia Transformation Party	19,087	1.05	0	−1
	Democratic National Allegiance	18,959	1.04	0	New
	Movement for Progressive Change	18,946	1.04	1	+1
	National Democratic Coalition	18,768	1.03	1	New
	Vision for Liberia Transformation	14,641	0.81	1	+1
	United Independent Democrats	14,393	0.79	0	New
	Liberia Restoration Party	13,604	0.75	1	+1
	New Liberia Party	10,057	0.55	0	0
	Democratic People's Party of Liberia	9,850	0.54	0	New
	Liberia Rebuilding Party	9,768	0.54	0	New
	Liberia First Movement	8,608	0.47	0	New
	Rainbow Alliance (TWP−VCP)	8,574	0.47	0	New
	Liberian for Prosperity Party	4,499	0.25	0	New
	Reformers National Congress	3,116	0.17	0	New
	African Democratic Movement of Liberia	2,303	0.13	0	New
	All Liberians Solidarity Party	1,940	0.11	0	New
	Greater Action Party of Liberia	831	0.05	0	New
	Grassroots Development Movement	228	0.01	0	New
	Independents	467,105	25.71	19	+6
Total		1,817,010	100.00	73	0

Valid votes		1,817,010	94.10
Invalid/blank votes		113,962	5.90
Total votes		1,930,972	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		2,471,617	78.13
Source: NEC

Senate elections[edit]


Party		Votes	%	Seats
Party		Votes	%	Total before	Up	Won	Total after	+/–
	Coalition for Democratic Change	620,892	34.26	6^[a]	3^[b]	6	9	+3
	Unity Party	218,138	12.04	6	4	1	3	–3
	Movement for Democracy and Reconstruction	128,437	7.09	1	0	1	2	+1
	People's Unification Party	86,466	4.77	2	1	0	1	–1
	Collaborating Political Parties (ANC–LP)	83,423	4.60	6^[c]	3^[d]	0	3	–3
	Liberia National Union	41,681	2.30	0	0	0	0	0
	Liberian People's Party	39,718	2.19	0	0	0	0	0
	United Independent Democrats	30,149	1.66	0	0	0	0	New
	All Liberia Coalition Party	29,362	1.62	0	0	0	0	0
	Liberia Restoration Party	26,575	1.47	0	0	1	1	+1
	All Liberian Party	14,121	0.78	1	0	0	1	0
	National Development Party	7,077	0.39	0	0	0	0	New
	Economic Freedom Fighters of Liberia	6,590	0.36	0	0	0	0	New
	Rainbow Alliance (TWP−VCP)	6,552	0.36	0	0	0	0	0
	Movement for One Liberia	5,823	0.32	0	0	0	0	0
	Democratic National Allegiance	5,206	0.29	0	0	0	0	New
	All Liberians Solidarity Party	3,764	0.21	0	0	0	0	New
	Vision for Liberia Transformation	3,609	0.20	0	0	0	0	0
	New Liberia Party	3,425	0.19	0	0	0	0	0
	Liberia Transformation Party	2,881	0.16	0	0	0	0	0
	National Democratic Coalition	2,443	0.13	1	1	0	0	–1
	Greater Action Party of Liberia	2,120	0.12	0	0	0	0	New
	Movement for Progressive Change	2,046	0.11	0	0	0	0	0
	Liberia Rebuilding Party	664	0.04	0	0	0	0	New
	Independents	441,001	24.34	7	3	6	10	+3
Total		1,812,163	100.00	30	15	15	30	0

Valid votes		1,812,163	93.37
Invalid/blank votes		128,694	6.63
Total votes		1,940,857	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		2,471,617	78.53
Source: NEC

^ 5 held by the Congress for Democratic Change, 1 by the National Patriotic Party.
^ 2 held by the Congress for Democratic Change, 1 by the National Patriotic Party.
^ 4 held by the Liberty Party, 2 by the Alternative National Congress.
^ 2 held by the Liberty Party, 1 by the Alternative National Congress.

References[edit]

^ "National Elections Commission Liberia". NEC. 2017. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
^ "George Weah elected Liberian president". bbc.com. 29 December 2017. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
^ "Liberia election results: George Weah and Joseph Boakai face run-off vote". BBC News. 24 October 2023. Archived from the original on 3 November 2023. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
^ "Liberia Presidential Election Run-off Holds November 14". 25 October 2023. Archived from the original on 6 November 2023. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
^ "Weah congratulates Boakai after Liberia poll". BBC News. 17 November 2023. Archived from the original on 18 November 2023. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
^ "President Weah's full concession speech". New Dawn Liberia. 17 November 2023. Archived from the original on 18 November 2023. Retrieved 18 November 2023.

External links[edit]

[7] 5 held by the Congress for Democratic Change, 1 by the National Patriotic Party.

[8] 2 held by the Congress for Democratic Change, 1 by the National Patriotic Party.

[9] 4 held by the Liberty Party, 2 by the Alternative National Congress.

[10] 2 held by the Liberty Party, 1 by the Alternative National Congress.

[1] "National Elections Commission Liberia". NEC. 2017. Retrieved 28 October 2017.

[2] "George Weah elected Liberian president". bbc.com. 29 December 2017. Retrieved 29 December 2017.

[:2-3] "Liberia election results: George Weah and Joseph Boakai face run-off vote". BBC News. 24 October 2023. Archived from the original on 3 November 2023. Retrieved 18 November 2023.

[:3-4] "Liberia Presidential Election Run-off Holds November 14". 25 October 2023. Archived from the original on 6 November 2023. Retrieved 6 November 2023.

[:4-5] "Weah congratulates Boakai after Liberia poll". BBC News. 17 November 2023. Archived from the original on 18 November 2023. Retrieved 18 November 2023.

[6] "President Weah's full concession speech". New Dawn Liberia. 17 November 2023. Archived from the original on 18 November 2023. Retrieved 18 November 2023.

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v t e Elections and referendums in Liberia
Presidential elections	1847 1849 1851 1853 1855 1857 1859 1861 1863 1865 1867 1869 1871 1873 1875 1877 1879 1881 1883 1885 1887 1889 1891 1893 1895 1897 1899 1901 1903 1905 1907 1911 1915 1919 1923 1927 1931 1939 1943 1951 1955 1959 1963 1967 1971 1975 1985 1997 2005 2011 2017 2023
Legislative elections	1840 1847 1849 1851 1853 1855 1857 1859 1861 1863 1865 1867 1869 1871 1873 1875 1877 1879 1881 1883 1885 1887 1889 1891 1893 1895 1897 1899 1901 1903 1905 1907 1911 1915 1919 1923 1927 1931 1935 1939 1943 1951 1955 1959 1963 1967 1971 1975 1985 1997 2005 2011 2014 2017 2020 2023
Local elections	... 1986
Referendums	1846 1847 1849 1861 1869 1870 1907 1927 1935 1943 1945 1946 1949 1955 1972 1975 1984 2011 2020
See also: Elections and referendums in the Republic of Maryland

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