General elections were held in Liberia on 10 October 2023 to elect the President, House of Representatives and half of the Senate. Incumbent president George Weah was eligible for a second term. 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. Boakai defeated Weah by just over one percentage point in the closest runoff in Liberia's history, and Weah conceded the election peacefully.
European Union observers described the runoff as remarkably close and well administered. ECOWAS and the United States congratulated Liberia on the "largely" peaceful elections.
Background.
Liberia has an established history of civil violence following contested elections, particularly the 1985 Liberian coup d'état attempt which was the root cause of the First Liberian Civil War. This election is also notable as it is the first election without United Nations observers since the Second Liberian Civil War. Linda Thomas Greenfield, the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, warned that the U.S. would call out anyone who undermines the electoral process through fraud, violence, or intimidation, while ECOWAS, seeking to prevent another entry in the growing West African Coup Belt, urged for calm. Additionally, ECOWAS reported that the election has sharply divided the population and urged for maturity from political leaders and a peaceful transfer of power.
Liberian voters stated that they felt "underwhelmed" by the first term of the Weah administration, calling out the poor economic state of the country going into the election as well as a slew of corruption scandals in Weah's cabinet as Liberia is still suffering from the fallout of two civil wars and an Ebola outbreak. Weah's campaign focused on the fact the Liberian economy grew by 4.8% in 2022, mostly driven by gold exports to friendly neighbors, as well as promoting a general rule of law campaign. Boakai, meanwhile, focused on the corruption scandals and youth unemployment vowing to save Liberia from "Weah's failed leadership" all while attempting to keep his age of 78 out of political discussions.
Electoral system.
The president is elected using the two-round system, while the 73 members of the House of Representatives are elected by first-past-the-post voting in single-member constituencies. One of the two members of the Senate from each county were also up for election via first-past-the-post voting.
Candidates.
Nathaniel Barnes, a former Liberian ambassador to the United States (2008–2010), announced in January his intention to run for the presidency as an independent candidate.
Clarence Moniba, the leader of the Liberia National Union, announced in January that he would run for the presidency.
Joseph Boakai, former Vice President of Liberia (2006–2018) and candidate for president in 2017, announced in January that he would run for the presidency again.
Alexander B. Cummings Jr., a former chief administrative officer of Coca-Cola (2008–2016) who finished fifth in the 2017 presidential election, announced he would run for president again as the Alternative National Congress candidate with Charlyne Brumskine as his running mate.
George Weah, incumbent president of Liberia, announced that he would seek a second term in 2023.
Campaign.
The election run-up and first round campaigning was generally considered fair and free by both international and domestic watchdog groups. ECOWAS's Head of Election Mission Liberia, Attahiru Jega, praised the electorate for their orderliness and decorum in casting votes. He also commended the country's politicians for the same orderliness and abiding by electoral etiquette. Jega noted that this would be the first Liberian election without the presence of United Nations election observers, with most election security being performed by domestic agencies, namely in the form of the Elections Coordinating Committee which deployed several hundred observers across the country.
However, observers from the African Union, European Union, ECOWAS, and the United States would still be present. During the course of the election, observers followed the balloting across the country and only noted a few minor incidents with the National Elections Commission (NEC) having 14 days to fully count and report all ballots. However, notably, Unity Party campaign spokesman Mohammed Ali falsely claimed that the ECOWAS observers accepted a $150,000 bribe from the CDC to compromise its neutral role as an observer; in response the Unity Party quickly denounced the statement. Meanwhile, the CDC accused the Election Coordinating Committee and its chairman Oscar Bloh of breaking its neutrality and coordinating with the Unity Party by posting a video of Bloh meeting with Unity Party senator Amara Konneh and other high ranking Unity Party members, with the ECC and Bloh denouncing the video as fabricated.
Additionally, both Unity Party and CDC activists claimed that former president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and current vice-president, Jewel Taylor, respectively were traveling abroad to shore up support for an intervention to support their respective parties, however, both were in Ghana for the funeral of the late former First-Lady Theresa Kufuor. "Local Voices Liberia", a local watchdog group, attributed the source of the disinformation to be sitting representative Yekeh Kolubah.
On 13 November, the day before the presidential runoff, Justice Minister Frank Musah Dean issued a warning to the participating parties to not announce the results prior to the NEC, warning that doing so would result in partisan violence. However, as the first results started to be reported on 15 November high-ranking members of both the CDC and the Unity Party took to social media to announce that their parties had won the election. Among them was former Finance Minister, sitting senator from Gbarpolu County, and the Unity Party's campaign coordinator, Amara Konneh, who claimed that with 85% of the vote counted Joseph Boakai held a 40,910 vote lead. Other Unity Party figures, such as Yekeh Kolubah who took to the streets with his supporters celebrating a yet to be confirmed Boakai victory, and former warlord Joshua Milton Blahyi promised "retaliation" against the CDC now that they no longer held the presidency, claiming that the CDC supported political violence. Members of the CDC also claimed premature victory, namely CDC secretary-general Jefferson Koijee, who took to the streets with supporters a few hours after polls closed to celebrate.
Additionally, the West African Elders Forum Mission to Liberia and the Angie Brooks International Center also called for calm denouncing premature victory claims and urging against political violence.
By 17 November, the vast majority of the run-off election ballots had been counted, suggesting Weah had lost re-election by a slim margin and that Boakai had won. However, it was announced that the election would need to be re-held in Nimba County on 18 November, after it was revealed one polling station had a greater number of cast ballots than the number of registered voters. Regardless, Weah officially conceded the election to Boakai earlier in the morning on the 18th.
Results.
President.
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.
Boakai defeated Weah 51% to 49% in the closest runoff in Liberia's electoral history.
Senate election results by county.
The following are the results for the 2023 Senate elections from the National Elections Commission.
! scope="col" colspan="2" style="width: 15em" |Party
! scope="col" style="width: 17em" |Candidate
! scope="col" style="width: 5em" |Votes
! scope="col" style="width: 3.5em" |%
! colspan="3" style="text-align:right;" | Total votes
! colspan="3" style="text-align: right; margin-right: 0.5em" | Rejected ballots
! scope="col" colspan="2" style="width: 15em" |Party
! scope="col" style="width: 17em" |Candidate
! scope="col" style="width: 5em" |Votes
! scope="col" style="width: 3.5em" |%
! colspan="3" style="text-align:right;" | Total votes
! colspan="3" style="text-align: right; margin-right: 0.5em" | Rejected ballots
! scope="col" colspan="2" style="width: 15em" |Party
! scope="col" style="width: 17em" |Candidate
! scope="col" style="width: 5em" |Votes
! scope="col" style="width: 3.5em" |%
! colspan="3" style="text-align:right;" | Total votes
! colspan="3" style="text-align: right; margin-right: 0.5em" | Rejected ballots
! scope="col" colspan="2" style="width: 15em" |Party
! scope="col" style="width: 17em" |Candidate
! scope="col" style="width: 5em" |Votes
! scope="col" style="width: 3.5em" |%
! colspan="3" style="text-align:right;" | Total votes
! colspan="3" style="text-align: right; margin-right: 0.5em" | Rejected ballots
! scope="col" colspan="2" style="width: 15em" |Party
! scope="col" style="width: 17em" |Candidate
! scope="col" style="width: 5em" |Votes
! scope="col" style="width: 3.5em" |%
! colspan="3" style="text-align:right;" | Total votes
! colspan="3" style="text-align: right; margin-right: 0.5em" | Rejected ballots
! scope="col" colspan="2" style="width: 15em" |Party
! scope="col" style="width: 17em" |Candidate
! scope="col" style="width: 5em" |Votes
! scope="col" style="width: 3.5em" |%
! colspan="3" style="text-align:right;" | Total votes
! colspan="3" style="text-align: right; margin-right: 0.5em" | Rejected ballots
! scope="col" colspan="2" style="width: 15em" |Party
! scope="col" style="width: 17em" |Candidate
! scope="col" style="width: 5em" |Votes
! scope="col" style="width: 3.5em" |%
! colspan="3" style="text-align:right;" | Total votes
! colspan="3" style="text-align: right; margin-right: 0.5em" | Rejected ballots
! scope="col" colspan="2" style="width: 15em" |Party
! scope="col" style="width: 17em" |Candidate
! scope="col" style="width: 5em" |Votes
! scope="col" style="width: 3.5em" |%
! colspan="3" style="text-align:right;" | Total votes
! colspan="3" style="text-align: right; margin-right: 0.5em" | Rejected ballots
! scope="col" colspan="2" style="width: 15em" |Party
! scope="col" style="width: 17em" |Candidate
! scope="col" style="width: 5em" |Votes
! scope="col" style="width: 3.5em" |%
! colspan="3" style="text-align:right;" | Total votes
! colspan="3" style="text-align: right; margin-right: 0.5em" | Rejected ballots
! scope="col" colspan="2" style="width: 15em" |Party
! scope="col" style="width: 17em" |Candidate
! scope="col" style="width: 5em" |Votes
! scope="col" style="width: 3.5em" |%
! colspan="3" style="text-align:right;" | Total votes
! colspan="3" style="text-align: right; margin-right: 0.5em" | Rejected ballots
! scope="col" colspan="2" style="width: 15em" |Party
! scope="col" style="width: 17em" |Candidate
! scope="col" style="width: 5em" |Votes
! scope="col" style="width: 3.5em" |%
! colspan="3" style="text-align:right;" | Total votes
! colspan="3" style="text-align: right; margin-right: 0.5em" | Rejected ballots
! scope="col" colspan="2" style="width: 15em" |Party
! scope="col" style="width: 17em" |Candidate
! scope="col" style="width: 5em" |Votes
! scope="col" style="width: 3.5em" |%
! colspan="3" style="text-align:right;" | Total votes
! colspan="3" style="text-align: right; margin-right: 0.5em" | Rejected ballots
! scope="col" colspan="2" style="width: 15em" |Party
! scope="col" style="width: 17em" |Candidate
! scope="col" style="width: 5em" |Votes
! scope="col" style="width: 3.5em" |%
! colspan="3" style="text-align:right;" | Total votes
! colspan="3" style="text-align: right; margin-right: 0.5em" | Rejected ballots
! scope="col" colspan="2" style="width: 15em" |Party
! scope="col" style="width: 17em" |Candidate
! scope="col" style="width: 5em" |Votes
! scope="col" style="width: 3.5em" |%
! colspan="3" style="text-align:right;" | Total votes
! colspan="3" style="text-align: right; margin-right: 0.5em" | Rejected ballots
! scope="col" colspan="2" style="width: 15em" |Party
! scope="col" style="width: 17em" |Candidate
! scope="col" style="width: 5em" |Votes
! scope="col" style="width: 3.5em" |%
! colspan="3" style="text-align:right;" | Total votes
! colspan="3" style="text-align: right; margin-right: 0.5em" | Rejected ballots
Aftermath.
Incumbent president Weah conceded the election peacefully.
President-elect Boakai in his victory speech promised to form a government of inclusion that reflects the political, social and religious diversity of the citizens.
Car-ramming incident.
As crowds gathered at the Unity Party headquarters in Monrovia to celebrate Boakai's victory on 20 November, they were rammed by a jeep without license plates, killing three people and injuring 17. The driver, who had switched off the vehicle's lights prior to the incident, fled the scene while the vehicle was set on fire by angry onlookers. While police said the incident was accidental, the Unity Party called it an "act of terrorism" and cancelled upcoming celebrations until further notice. The outgoing government called on the public "to refrain from making unsubstantiated claims about the incident," citing the potential for post-election violence.
International reactions.
European Union observers described the runoff as remarkably close and well administered, saying; "the conduct of the voting process in observed polling stations as very good". EU observers further added the campaign was largely peaceful and quiet. EU observers concluded political freedoms of candidates and supporters were largely respected, but the use of state resources by the ruling party distorted the level playing field.
ECOWAS also congratulated all stakeholders on the "largely" peaceful elections, although it noted isolated incidents in the counties of Lofa, Nimba, Bong and Montserrado, which resulted in "injuries and hospitalisation".
The United States congratulated Liberia on holding a peaceful presidential runoff election. United States Department of State spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement; "it notes the broad participation of Liberians across the country and applauded the commitment and dedication of Liberian citizens in exercising their right to vote and in engaging in the electoral process peacefully."
References.
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