Liberia - October 2023

General elections were held in Liberia on 11 October. Voters chose all the members of the House of Representatives, half the members of the Senate, and also voted in the first round of the presidential election. Turnout was 79 per cent of registered voters, up from 72 per cent in 2017. Incumbent President George Weah of the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) was slightly ahead in the first round with 43.8 per cent support, closely followed by Joseph Boakai of the Unity Party (UP) who received 43.4 per cent of the votes. Liberians will choose between these two leading candidates in the second round in November. The CDC increased its seat share in the House of Representatives, gaining four seats for a total of 25 (out of the 73 seats), while the UP lost 10 seats, for a new count of 10. No party has a majority in the House, and 18 independent candidates were elected. While there were 153 female candidates, only 9 were elected (a gain of one). Election observers noted logistical and technical problems in the process preparing for the election, but positively assessed the election day processes in the vast majority of polling places. However, nine temporary staff members of the National Elections Commission were arrested for electoral fraud.

Sources: National Elections Commission, Global News Network Liberia, Africa Report, Reuters, European Union Election Observation Mission, International IDEA, The New Dawn