Waging Peace: Liberia

Monitoring Elections

2011 Elections
In September 2011, The Carter Center deployed teams of long-term observers to launch an international election observation mission for Liberia's presidential and legislative elections on Oct. 11, 2011.

For the period surrounding election day, The Carter Center partnered with the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa (EISA) to deploy an integrated mission of 55 observers from 25 countries. Carter Center-EISA observers visited 282 polling places in 15 counties to assess the voting and counting processes.  The Carter Center team was led by General Dr. Yakubu Gowon, former head of state of Nigeria, along with Dr. John Stremlau, Carter Center vice president for Peace Programs. The Oct. 11, 2011, presidential and legislative elections marked an important test for Liberia's transition from civil war to democratic, constitutional government.  Despite considerable challenges, Carter Center observers reported that the voting process was peaceful, orderly, and remarkably transparent.

No candidate won more than 50 percent of the vote, so a presidential runoff was scheduled for Nov. 8, 2011. The Carter Center and EISA again partnered to deploy an integrated mission of 52 observers from 20 countries, led by General Gowon and Dr. Stremlau.

The Center noted that Liberia's Nov. 8 presidential runoff election was conducted in general accordance with Liberia's legal framework and its international obligations for democratic elections. Regrettably, the election was marred by an opposition boycott, violence on the eve of the election, and low voter turnout. From a technical perspective, the election was well-administered, and on the whole, polling staff carried out their duties admirably at polling stations throughout the country. The process was conducted transparently, with domestic and international observers having access to all stages of the electoral process. However, events leading up to the runoff showed that important challenges to Liberia's democratic consolidation remain. The opposition's decision to boycott the runoff was based on their assertion that the overall election process was significantly flawed. These claims were unsubstantiated. In addition, the Liberian National Police's use of deadly force in an action against the headquarters of the Congress for Democratic Change on Nov. 7, together with the closure of three media outlets, eroded confidence and contributed to an atmosphere of fear, particularly in Monrovia. These events suggested a significant failure of the political process to resolve electoral disputes peacefully within the framework of the law.

The Center remained in Liberia postelection to monitor the tallying process and reported in November 2011 that the process was carried out smoothly throughout the country, with greater adherence to procedures and fewer irregularities than in the first round of the elections.

November 2005 Runoff Elections
Since no presidential candidate garnered a majority (50 percent plus one vote), a runoff election was scheduled for Nov. 8, 2005, between the two top vote-getters, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and George Manneh Weah. During the period before the runoff, Carter Center long-term observers and staff traveled in teams throughout the country to observe campaigning.

The Carter Center and the National Democratic Institute again partnered to send a 28-member international observer delegation to observe the presidential runoff election. The delegation was co-led by Dr. Alexander Ekwueme, former vice president of Nigeria; Dr. David Carroll, director of the Democracy Program at The Carter Center; and Dr. Christopher Fomunyoh, NDI's senior associate for Africa.

The delegation's assessment of the runoff election was largely positive, with only a few problems and irregularities noted. Shortly after the polls closed, however, Weah's CDC party filed a complaint with the NEC alleging widespread electoral fraud. The Carter Center was the only organization to stay in country through the complaints process, and Center staff attended all of the CDC and other hearings. The complaint was eventually dismissed after the NEC determined that evidence presented by the CDC did not constitute massive fraud.

On Nov. 23, the NEC officially announced that Sirleaf had received 59.6 percent of the votes, making her the next president of Liberia.

2005 Elections
Notwithstanding this challenging context and painful history, Liberians across the country were eager to participate in the 2005 elections. A total of 22 political parties contested the October presidential and legislative elections with no fewer than 762 candidates running for office. More than 1.3 million people registered to vote, which was estimated to be 90 percent of the eligible population.

To ensure the success of these historic elections, The Carter Center and its London-based partner, Electoral Reform International Services, partnered to implement a European Commission Bilateral Elections Program of voter education initiatives, domestic election-monitor training, and capacity building of political parties, with the support of The Carter Center UK. The project helped Liberian voters channel their aspirations for the future into participation in this important transitional political process. It also contributed to long-term good governance, enhanced public understanding of the democratic process and the value of participating in it, increased public confidence and civil society organizations' capacity to monitor and report on democratic processes, and strengthened capacity of political parties and the National Election Commission to engage in those processes.

The program had a fully staffed office in Monrovia and three resource centers in rural counties. Activities included organizing civic and voter education forums, supporting civil society organizations for the development of voter education activities and for training and deployment as election monitors, facilitating dialogue with NEC officials and political party representatives, and supporting political parties and emerging local radio stations to ensure broad outreach of voter education and political party messages.

The Carter Center also deployed a small team of long-term international observers before and after the polls. A larger short-term delegation led by President Carter and co-organized with the National Democratic Institute observed the polling on Oct. 11, 2005.

1997 Presidential Election
After three pre-electoral assessment missions in 1997, The Carter Center sent a 40-person delegation led by President Carter, former Benin President Nicephore Soglo, and former U.S. Sen. Paul Simon to observe the July 1997 presidential election. The delegation observed voting and counting in more than 10 percent of Liberia's 1,980 polling sites.

The delegation concluded that the process went smoothly on election day, particularly noting the large number of Liberians who voted peacefully. Problems reported by delegation members included lack of published registration lists at the time of the election and an unevenness of candidates' access to campaign resources. Despite these deficiencies, the delegation concluded that voters seemed to know where to register and vote, and candidates were able to move about the country informing the public about their platforms.

Charles Taylor won the race with 75 percent of the vote. His closest challenger, former U.N. official Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, won 9.5 percent. Taylor's government was not able to uphold its promise of improved human rights and governance, and the country was plunged back into civil war within a few years.

Chaos continued in Liberia until August 2003, when a comprehensive peace agreement ended 14 years of civil war. This prompted the resignation of President Taylor, who was exiled to Nigeria. The National Transitional Government of Liberia – composed of rebel, government, and civil society groups – assumed control in October 2003, with Gyude Bryant given a two-year mandate to oversee efforts to rebuild Liberia and to steer the country toward elections.

Almost two years after the signing of a comprehensive peace agreement, the end of fighting throughout most of Liberia represented a remarkable change in the lives of the country's population and a significant achievement for Liberians and the international community. Despite this progress, the country still faced numerous challenges leading up to the October 2005 elections. Past ethnic and regional tensions and the large numbers of internally displaced people and refugees in the region were just a few of the factors that complicated the voting process.