Why an
Electoral Reform Law?
The Parties to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA)
agreed that the electoral system of
Does the
Electoral Reform Law replace the Constitution or the Elections Law of 1986?
No. The Electoral Reform Law temporarily suspends certain
provisions of the Constitution and amends a number of sections of the 1986
Elections Law. Together with the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, these three
documents – the Constitution, the Elections Law of 1986 and the Electoral
Reform Law of 2004 – form the legal framework for the 2005 elections.
What are
the practical consequences of the Electoral Reform Law?
The Electoral Reform Law covers many areas in preparation
for the 2005 elections. The most important ones are covered in this information
sheet.
What kind
of elections will be held in 2005?
Nation-wide elections will be held for the offices of the
President and the Vice-President, the Senate, and the House of Representatives.
How was the
date of 11 October chosen for the elections?
The Comprehensive Peace Agreement states that elections will
be held no later than October 2005. The Constitution of Liberia provides that
voting will be conducted on the second Tuesday of October of an election year.
In 2005, the second Tuesday falls on the 11th day of the month.
How will
elections be held for President and Vice-President?
There will be a two-round system for the offices of
President and Vice-President. (The two candidates will run on a single ballot).
A candidate needs to get an absolute majority of the votes, meaning at least
50% of all valid votes cast plus one vote. If none of the candidates has an
absolute majority, a second round will be held with only the two candidates who
had the highest votes. If a second round is held, the candidate with the
majority of votes is elected.
How will
elections be held for the Senate?
Each of the 15 counties will have two seats in the Senate. Elections
will follow a simple majority system: the two candidates who obtain the highest
and second highest numbers of valid votes cast shall be elected.
How will
elections be held for the House of Representatives?
The House of Representatives will have 64 seats. Each seat
will correspond to an electoral district. The candidate who obtains a simple
majority in his or her electoral district will be elected to that seat. Voters
will vote for a candidate, not for a party.
Were the
old constituencies of 1985 maintained in the delimitation process?
No. Elections in the House of Representatives will be held
on the basis of 64 new electoral districts.
How were
these electoral districts defined? How were the 64 seats allocated?
The 64 districts were defined by the NEC on the basis of
voter registration results, by dividing each of the 15 counties into districts
that correspond to an approximately equal number of voters. The more voters
registered for a county, the more seats that county received. However, each
county is guaranteed by the law to receive no less than 2 seats/districts.
Are the
electoral districts the same as the administrative districts from before?
No. The NEC defined the electoral districts only after the
voter registration data had been collected. The NEC first and foremost ensured
that each electoral district is fair and corresponded to an approximately equal
number of voters.
Does this
mean we will have elections based on proportional representation (PR)?
No. PR uses larger, multi-member constituencies. Instead,
elections for the House of Representatives will use single-member electoral
districts. The election for each electoral district/seat will be based on a
simple majority system. This is not the PR system used in the 1997 elections.
Who may
vote?
Every Liberian who is at least 18 years old at the end of
the registration period and who holds a valid registration card may vote.
An eligible Liberian citizen needs to be registered by the
NEC before he or she can vote, and before being able to run for office.
How did one
register?
To register, a Liberian must have presented him- or herself
at a registration centre. If the
Registration Official was satisfied that the applicant was Liberian, 18 years
old and above.
If not, the applicant had return to the registration centre
with the following proof of eligibility:
·
Two
witnesses already registered that can identify him or her as an eligible voter;
OR
·
The
confirmation by a Liberian traditional leader; OR
·
A
valid (non-expired) Liberian passport; OR
·
A
Liberian birth certificate; OR
·
An
evidence of renunciation of a second nationality; OR
·
A
certificate of naturalization
How did
IDPs register?
Eligible IDPs registered in the IDP camp where they were
living and could choose to register to vote for their country of origin, or for
the county in which their camp is located.
71% of IDPs chose to register to vote in their county of origin.
What will
happen to IDPs who are not repatriated by October 11?
IDPs who registered to vote in the county of origin and are
not repatriated by October 11 will be able to vote only for President. This is
because voters can only cast ballots for Senator and House of Representatives
if they are in the districts where those candidates are running for election.
Where can
eligible voters vote on polling day?
Eligible voters must vote where they registered. LNP
officers who are assigned to a center different from the one they registered in
will be given special provision to vote in the precinct they are assigned to on
Election Day.
Can voters
replace their cards if they get lost or damaged?
Yes. Voters who have lost their cards must present
themselves at the
Were
eligible Liberians able to vote outside
No. It was decided that Voter registration and polling would
take place only within
Why was
there no out-of-country registration?
The provision suspending out-of-country registration and
voting is contained in the electoral reform law, which was adopted by the NTLA
and Chairman Bryant, based on recommendations by the NEC.
There are important disadvantages to out-of-country voting.
It would have been very expensive to organize, and would have required the
permission of the host countries. The credibility and transparency of the
process is also much more difficult to guarantee. Security in other countries would have been
an extra concern. It would also have required politicians to campaign outside
How were
new political parties established?
The NEC issued binding guidelines which described how political
parties could canvass members and register with the NEC (see separate fact
sheet on these guidelines). The Electoral Reform Law required that a new
political party must have a minimum membership of 500 eligible voters in each
of at least 12 counties.