Liberian general election, 2011
Encyclopedia
The 2011 Liberian general election was held on 11 October 2011, with a presidential runoff election held on 8 November 2011. The presidency, as well as all seats in the House of Representatives
House of Representatives of Liberia
The House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the bicameral Liberian Legislature. Legislative elections took place on 11 October 2005, and the elected members took office in January 2006.-Candidate eligibility:...

 and half of the seats in the Senate
Senate of Liberia
The Senate of Liberia is the upper house of the bicameral legislative branch of Liberia, and together with the House of Representatives comprises the Legislature of Liberia...

, were up for election. The election was overseen by the National Elections Commission (NEC).

The results of the legislative elections and first-round presidential election were released on 25 October 2011. In the legislative elections, the Unity Party maintained its plurality in both the House and the Senate, but as in the previous election, no party secured a majority in either chamber. Incumbent retention was low; only two of the fourteen incumbent senators seeking to retain their seats won reelection, while only twenty-five of the fifty-nine House incumbents running were reelected.

In the first round of the presidential election, incumbent President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of the Unity Party
Unity Party (Liberia)
The Unity Party is a political party in Liberia that was started in 1984 by the late Dr. Edward B. Kesselly, also its first standard bearer. The Unity Party participated the first post-1980 coup elections, running against then-President Samuel Doe in October 1985...

 led the presidential field with 43.9% of the vote, followed by Congress for Democratic Change
Congress for Democratic Change
Congress for Democratic Change is a Liberian political party formed by supporters of George Weah's 2005 presidential candidacy.In the 11 October 2005 elections, Weah placed first in the presidential poll, winning 28.3% of the vote...

 candidate Winston Tubman
Winston Tubman
Winston A. Tubman is a Liberian diplomat and politician of Americo-Liberian descent. He is a former justice minister and diplomat for the nation and leader of the Congress for Democratic Change Winston A. Tubman (born 1941) is a Liberian diplomat and politician of Americo-Liberian descent. He is a...

 with 32.7%. As no candidate received an absolute majority, Sirleaf and Tubman stood in a run-off election held on 8 November 2011. Tubman alleged that the first round had been rigged in Sirleaf's favor and called on his supporters to boycott the run-off, resulting in a turnout of 38% as compared to the 71.8% turnout in the first round. The NEC declared Sirleaf the winner of the run-off on 15 November 2011 with 90.7% of the vote.

Candidates

Accreditation of candidates by the NEC was held from 20 July to 15 August 2011 at the Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex
National Complex (Liberia)
Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex is a multi-purpose stadium in Paynesville, Liberia built in 1986. It is used mostly for football matches and it also has an athletics track. Spectator capacity is 30,000 people. In September 2005 a 7.6 million dollars renovation project began...

 in Paynesville
Paynesville, Liberia
Paynesville is a suburb east of Monrovia, located in Liberia. Paynesville was the location of the Paynesville Omega Transmitter, the highest structure of Africa, until the tower's demolition in 2011. It is also known for the Redlight Market commercial district, one of the largest market areas in...

. Candidates were required to submit a letter of intent
Letter of intent
A letter of intent is a document outlining an agreement between two or more parties before the agreement is finalized. The concept is similar to a heads of agreement...

, sworn declarations of citizenship
Citizenship
Citizenship is the state of being a citizen of a particular social, political, national, or human resource community. Citizenship status, under social contract theory, carries with it both rights and responsibilities...

 and domicile
Domicile (law)
In law, domicile is the status or attribution of being a permanent resident in a particular jurisdiction. A person can remain domiciled in a jurisdiction even after they have left it, if they have maintained sufficient links with that jurisdiction or have not displayed an intention to leave...

, a tax clearance, financial disclosure forms and a valid form of identification.

Following the conclusion of the accreditation period, NEC Chairman James M. Fromayan noted that of the 2,700 registration forms delivered to political aspirants, only 920 had been returned. He said that no grace period would be allowed for late applicants.

Observers

The NEC accredited 799 international observers from 31 countries and international organizations to monitor the elections, including the African Union
African Union
The African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...

, European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

, ECOWAS, Open Society Initiative for West Africa
Open Society Initiative for West Africa
Open Society Initiative for West Africa is a West African organization which promotes democratic values. OSIWA "believes that it best serves by sustaining catalytic and innovative initiatives that add value to the efforts of West Africa's civil society." OSIWA also believes in the value of...

, National Democratic Institute, International Foundation for Electoral Systems
International Foundation for Electoral Systems
The International Foundation for Electoral Systems is an international, non-profit organization founded in 1987. This Washington, D. C.-based development organization provides assistance and support for elections in new and emerging democracies...

, Search for Common Ground
Search for Common Ground
Search for Common Ground is an international non-profit organization operating in nearly 30 countries whose mission is to transform the way the world deals with conflict – away from adversarial approaches toward cooperative solutions. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with the majority of...

 and personnel from the American, French, German, Spanish and Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 embassies. A team from the Carter Center
Carter Center
The Carter Center is a nongovernmental, not-for-profit organization founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn Carter. In partnership with Emory University, The Carter Center works to advance human rights and alleviate human suffering...

 was led by former Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

n President Yakubu Gowon
Yakubu Gowon
General Yakubu "Jack" Dan-Yumma Gowon was the head of state of Nigeria from 1966 to 1975. He took power after one military coup d'etat and was overthrown in another...

. Additionally, 3,851 local observers from 68 national organizations and media outlets were accredited by the NEC to observe the elections.

Nominations

In January 2010, incumbent President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf confirmed that she would run for a second term in office while speaking to a joint session of the Legislature. Sirleaf was renominated as the Unity Party
Unity Party (Liberia)
The Unity Party is a political party in Liberia that was started in 1984 by the late Dr. Edward B. Kesselly, also its first standard bearer. The Unity Party participated the first post-1980 coup elections, running against then-President Samuel Doe in October 1985...

's (UP) presidential candidate at the party's national convention on 31 October 2010. That same day, Vice President Joseph Boakai
Joseph Boakai
Joseph Nyumah Boakai a Liberian politician and the current Vice President of Liberia, serving under President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.-Personal:...

 was nominated by Sirleaf and confirmed by the delegates to be the party's vice presidential candidate. The True Whig Party endorsed the Unity Party presidential ticket on 16 June 2011.

George Weah
George Weah
George Tawlon Manneh Oppong Ousman Weah is a Liberian humanitarian and politician, and an ex-footballer. He ran unsuccessfully for president in the 2005 election, losing to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in the second round of voting...

, who lost to Sirleaf in the 2005 runoff election, confirmed his intention to run for president in 2011. The third-place candidate from the 2005 elections, Liberty Party
Liberty Party (Liberia)
The Liberty Party is a political party in Liberia. It fielded candidates in the 11 October 2005 elections.LP candidate Charles Brumskine placed third in the presidential poll, winning 13.9% of the vote...

 leader Charles Brumskine
Charles Brumskine
Charles Walker Brumskine is a Liberian politician and attorney. He is the Political Leader of the Liberty Party and came third in the 2005 presidential election. He is considered the most popular opposition politician in Liberia, and is challenging Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf for the Presidency in...

, also announced his plans to run for president. On 25 October 2010, the two candidates agreed following a meeting in Accra
Accra
Accra is the capital and largest city of Ghana, with an urban population of 1,658,937 according to the 2000 census. Accra is also the capital of the Greater Accra Region and of the Accra Metropolitan District, with which it is coterminous...

 to create a coalition between the Liberty Party and Weah's Congress for Democratic Change
Congress for Democratic Change
Congress for Democratic Change is a Liberian political party formed by supporters of George Weah's 2005 presidential candidacy.In the 11 October 2005 elections, Weah placed first in the presidential poll, winning 28.3% of the vote...

 (CDC), fielding a single list of candidates in the legislative elections. Additionally, Weah and Brumskine agreed to run against Sirleaf on a single ticket. However, this deal ultimately fell apart, and the Liberty Party announced in February 2011 that Senator Franklin Siakor
Franklin Siakor
Franklin Obed Siakor , currently Junior Senator for Bong County, and member of the Senate's Committee on Planning and Economic Affairs.-Life:...

 had been chosen as Brumskine's running mate for the election.

On 1 May 2011, the CDC nominated Winston Tubman
Winston Tubman
Winston A. Tubman is a Liberian diplomat and politician of Americo-Liberian descent. He is a former justice minister and diplomat for the nation and leader of the Congress for Democratic Change Winston A. Tubman (born 1941) is a Liberian diplomat and politician of Americo-Liberian descent. He is a...

, the nephew of former President William Tubman
William Tubman
William Vacanarat Shadrach Tubman was a Liberian politician. He was the 19th President of Liberia from 1944 until his death in 1971....

 and a Harvard
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

-trained lawyer who finished fourth in the 2005 presidential election, as its candidate for president, with Weah as his running mate.

Prince Johnson
Prince Johnson
Prince Yormie Johnson is a Liberian politician and the current Senior Senator from Nimba County."Prince" is a common given name for males in Liberia, rather than a royal title...

, the former rebel leader of the Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia
Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia
The Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia was a rebel group that participated in the First Liberian Civil War under the leadership of Prince Johnson...

 during the First Liberian Civil War and a Senator from Nimba County
Nimba County
Nimba is a county in the north-central portion of the West African nation of Liberia. One of 15 counties that comprise the first-level of administrative division in the nation, it has six districts. Sanniquellie serves as the capital with the area of the county measuring , the largest in the nation...

, also announced his candidacy for the presidency, forming the National Union for Democratic Progress as his party. Johnson originally chose Grand Cape Mount County
Grand Cape Mount County
Grand Cape Mount is a county in the northwestern portion of the West African nation of Liberia. One of 15 counties that comprise the first-level of administrative division in the nation, it has five districts. Robertsport serves as the capital with the area of the county measuring...

 Senator Abel Massalay as his running mate, but fired him in January 2011. Johnson then chose Lavala Supuwood, a prominent attorney, as his vice presidential candidate. Massalay later endorsed Sirleaf's bid.

The New Deal Movement
New Deal Movement
The New Deal Movement is a political party in Liberia. In the 2005 general election, the presidential candidate of the party, George Klay Kieh, Jr. and his running mate Alaric Tokpa won 0.5% of the votes, while the Party received 3.62% of the vote, good for three seats in the House of...

 joined with the National Patriotic Party
National Patriotic Party
The National Patriotic Party is a political party in Liberia. It was formed in 1997 by members of the National Patriotic Front of Liberia following the end of the First Liberian Civil War....

 (NPP), the National Democratic Party of Liberia
National Democratic Party of Liberia
The National Democratic Party of Liberia is a political party in Liberia.The NDPL was formed in August 1984 by supporters of Samuel Doe, who came to power in a 1980 military coup. The party contested the 15 October 1985 elections with Doe as its presidential candidate. He won 50.93% of the vote in...

 (NDPL), the Liberian People's Party
Liberian People's Party
The Liberian People's Party is a political party in Liberia.In the 11 October 2005 elections, the party participated as part of the Alliance for Peace and Democracy ....

, the United People's Party
United People's Party (Liberia)
The United People's Party is a political party in Liberia.In the 11 October 2005 elections, the party participated as part of the Alliance for Peace and Democracy ....

, the Liberia Equal Rights Party
Liberia Equal Rights Party
The Liberia Equal Rights Party is a political party in Liberia. It fielded candidates in the 11 October 2005 elections.LERP candidate Joseph Korto won 3.3% of the vote in the presidential poll. The party failed to win any seats in the Senate or House of Representatives.The party was disqualified...

 and the Labor Party of Liberia
Labor Party of Liberia
The Labor Party of Liberia is a political party in Liberia. It fielded candidates in the 11 October 2005 elections.LPL candidate Joseph Woah-Tee won 0.6% of the vote in the presidential poll. The party failed to win any seats in the Senate or House of Representatives....

 to form the National Democratic Coalition
National Democratic Coalition (Liberia)
The National Democratic Coalition is a coalition of Liberian political parties formed in 2011 to contest the 2011 presidential and legislative elections...

 (NDC), which planned to nominate a single presidential ticket and a single list of legislative candidates. On 12 February 2011, New Deal nominated Dew Mayson, a former Liberian ambassador and university professor, as its standard bearer, and NDC had been expected to nominate Mayson as its presidential candidate. However, New Deal suspended Mayson as its standard bearer on 6 July 2011 following for unspecified reasons, only to later reinstate him in less than a week later. Mayson later told reporters that there was an internal debate within the NDC over whether to contest the presidential election or to solely field candidates for the legislative elections. The day prior to the NDC's convention, the NPP and the NDPL withdrew from the coalition, and on 17 July, the remaining members of the coalition nominated Mayson as their presidential candidate.

Following their withdrawal from the NDC, the NDPL announced on 2 August 2011 that it would support the Unity Party presidential ticket, while NPP voted on 3 August to support the CDC ticket.

Nathaniel Barnes
Nathaniel Barnes
Nathaniel Barnes is a Liberian politician and member of the Liberian Destiny Party .-Early life and Educational Achievements:...

, leader of the Liberian Destiny Party
Liberian Destiny Party
The Liberian Destiny Party is a political party in Liberia. It fielded candidates in the 11 October 2005 elections.LDP candidate Nathaniel Barnes won 1.0% of the vote in the presidential poll. The party failed to win any seats in the Senate or House of Representatives....

 and Liberian Ambassador to the United Nations, originally announced his intention to challenge Sirleaf for the presidency in December 2010, but announced on 8 July 2011 that his party had decided not to field a presidential candidate.

Candidates

Originally, NEC Chairman Fromayan stated that of the sixteen candidates who had filed for a presidential run, only 11 had listed a vice presidential nominee on their ticket, and that those candidates without running mates would be ineligible to run. However, the NEC published a list of provisional presidential candidates on 22 August 2011, listing all sixteen candidates, each with a running mate.
  • Gladys Beyan – Grassroot Democratic Party of Liberia
  • Charles Brumskine
    Charles Brumskine
    Charles Walker Brumskine is a Liberian politician and attorney. He is the Political Leader of the Liberty Party and came third in the 2005 presidential election. He is considered the most popular opposition politician in Liberia, and is challenging Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf for the Presidency in...

     – Liberty Party
    Liberty Party (Liberia)
    The Liberty Party is a political party in Liberia. It fielded candidates in the 11 October 2005 elections.LP candidate Charles Brumskine placed third in the presidential poll, winning 13.9% of the vote...

  • Chea Cheapoo
    Chea Cheapoo
    Chea Job Cheapoo, Sr. is a Liberian politician who served as the 15th Chief Justice of Liberia from July 1987 until his impeachment and removal from office on December 2 of that year....

     – Progressive People's Party
    Progressive People's Party (Liberia)
    The Progressive People's Party is a political party in Liberia. It participated in the 1997 elections, but its current status is unclear, as it did not field candidates in the 11 October 2005 elections....

  • James Chelley – Original Congress Party of Liberia
  • Simeon Freeman – Movement for Progressive Change
  • James Guseh – Citizens Unification Party
  • Prince Yormie Johnson – National Union for Democratic Progress
    National Union for Democratic Progress
    The National Union for Democratic Progress is a political party in Liberia. It was founded by Prince Yormie Johnson, Senator for Nimba County and former head of the rebel Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia, to contest the 2011 presidential and legislative elections....

  • Ellen Johnson Sirleaf – Unity Party
    Unity Party (Liberia)
    The Unity Party is a political party in Liberia that was started in 1984 by the late Dr. Edward B. Kesselly, also its first standard bearer. The Unity Party participated the first post-1980 coup elections, running against then-President Samuel Doe in October 1985...

  • Marcus Roland Jones – Victory for Change Party
  • Jonathan A. Mason – Union of Liberian Democrats
    Union of Liberian Democrats
    The Union of Liberian Democrats is a political party in Liberia. It fielded candidates in the 11 October 2005 elections.Robert Kpoto, presidential candidate of the ULD, won 0.4% of the vote. The party failed to win any seats in the Senate or House of Representatives....

  • Dew Mayson – National Democratic Coalition
    National Democratic Coalition (Liberia)
    The National Democratic Coalition is a coalition of Liberian political parties formed in 2011 to contest the 2011 presidential and legislative elections...

  • Manjerngie Ndebe – Liberia Reconstruction Party
  • Kennedy Sandy – Liberia Transformation Party
  • Togba-Nah Tipoteh
    Togba-Nah Tipoteh
    Togba-Nah Tipoteh is a politician, economist, and educator, having mostly recently been presidential candidate for Liberia's 2005 elections, running as the candidate for the Alliance for Peace and Democracy...

     – Freedom Alliance Party of Liberia
    Freedom Alliance Party of Liberia
    The Freedom Alliance Party of Liberia is a political party in Liberia. It fielded candidates in the 11 October 2005 elections.FAPL candidate Margaret Tor-Thompson won 0.9% of the vote in the presidential poll. The party failed to win any seats in the Senate or House of Representatives....

  • Winston Tubman
    Winston Tubman
    Winston A. Tubman is a Liberian diplomat and politician of Americo-Liberian descent. He is a former justice minister and diplomat for the nation and leader of the Congress for Democratic Change Winston A. Tubman (born 1941) is a Liberian diplomat and politician of Americo-Liberian descent. He is a...

     – Congress for Democratic Change
    Congress for Democratic Change
    Congress for Democratic Change is a Liberian political party formed by supporters of George Weah's 2005 presidential candidacy.In the 11 October 2005 elections, Weah placed first in the presidential poll, winning 28.3% of the vote...

  • Hananiah Zoe – Liberia Empowerment Party

  • Campaign

    Sirleaf's campaign has highlighted the progress made in several areas since her inauguration, with Sirleaf using the Liberian English
    Liberian English
    Liberian English is a term used to refer to the varieties of English spoken in the African country of Liberia. There are four such varieties:* Standard Liberian English or Liberian Settler English;* Kru Pidgin English;...

     catchphrase "da my area" to emphasize her expertise in nation building. Sirleaf has emphasized her administration's work in relieving the country's debt, paying civil servants on time, rebuilding the Armed Forces of Liberia
    Armed Forces of Liberia
    The Armed Forces of Liberia are the armed forces of the Republic of Liberia. Founded as the Liberian Frontier Force in 1908, the military was retitled in 1956. For virtually all of its history, the AFL has received considerable materiel and training assistance from the United States. For most of...

    , improving basic services and infrastructure, and restoring Liberia's international standing.

    Brumskine campaigned on a platform based on four pillars: reconciliation, reform, recovery and rebuilding. He stated that if elected, he would work to decentralize the government, as well as decrease the powers of what he called the "imperial presidency." He also proposed creating a national peace corp in which students would travel to different counties in order to promote development and reconciliation, as well as a "mobile clinic" where teams of doctors would travel from village to village. Brumskine criticized Sirleaf for her financial involvement in the First Liberian Civil War and for reneging on her pledge in 2005 to only serve one term. He further stated that if he lost the 2011 election, he would retire from politics to make way for what he called "a new and younger generation of Liberians."

    Tubman stated that one of the most pressing issues facing the country was reconciling the Americo-Liberian
    Americo-Liberian
    Americo-Liberians are a Liberian ethnicity of African American descent. The sister ethnic group of Americo Liberians are the Sierra Leone Creole people who are of African American, West Indian, and liberated African descent...

     minority and the indigenous majority, warning that a failure to do so would lead to another civil war. With regards to policy, Tubman noted that he would pursue many of the same policies as Sirleaf, but argued that his credentials made him a better choice to lead the nation. He also criticized Sirleaf for her past involvement in the country's civil conflict.

    Legislative election

    As a result of the 2010 Threshold Bill, which revised the apportionment
    Apportionment (politics)
    Apportionment is the process of allocating political power among a set of principles . In most representative governments, political power has most recently been apportioned among constituencies based on population, but there is a long history of different approaches.The United States Constitution,...

     scheme used in the 2005 election, an additional nine seats were added to the House of Representatives. On the basis of the 2008 Census, Montserrado County
    Montserrado County
    Montserrado County is a county in the northwestern portion of the West African nation of Liberia. One of 15 counties that comprise the first-level of administrative division in the nation, it has four districts. Bensonville serves as the capital with the area of the county measuring , the smallest...

     gained three additional seats, Nimba County
    Nimba County
    Nimba is a county in the north-central portion of the West African nation of Liberia. One of 15 counties that comprise the first-level of administrative division in the nation, it has six districts. Sanniquellie serves as the capital with the area of the county measuring , the largest in the nation...

     gained two seats, and Bong
    Bong County
    Bong is a county in the north-central portion of the West African nation of Liberia. One of 15 counties that comprise the first-level of administrative division in the nation, it has twelve districts. Gbarnga serves as the capital with the area of the county measuring...

    , Grand Bassa
    Grand Bassa County
    Grand Bassa is a county in the west-central portion of the West African nation of Liberia. One of 15 counties that comprise the first-level of administrative division in the nation, it has eight districts. Buchanan serves as the capital with the area of the county measuring...

    , Margibi
    Margibi County
    Margibi is a county on the north to central coast of the West African nation of Liberia. One of 15 counties that comprise the first-level of administrative division in the nation, it has four districts. Kakata serves as the capital with the area of the county measuring...

     and Lofa
    Lofa County
    Lofa is a county in the northernmost portion of the West African nation of Liberia. One of 15 counties that comprise the first-level of administrative division in the nation, it has six districts. Voinjama serves as the capital with the area of the county measuring...

     Counties each gained one seat. In all other counties, the electoral district
    Electoral district
    An electoral district is a distinct territorial subdivision for holding a separate election for one or more seats in a legislative body...

    s remained unchanged.

    Alleged analysis

    On 9 July, the Liberian newspaper FrontPageAfrica published a pre-election analysis allegedly commissioned by the Unity Party that discussed Sirleaf's expected vote tally in the first round of elections. The report, attributed to law professor Larry Gibson of the University of Maryland
    University of Maryland
    When the term "University of Maryland" is used without any qualification, it generally refers to the University of Maryland, College Park.University of Maryland may refer to the following:...

    , projected Sirleaf to earn 37.7% of the vote in the first round and highlighted the importance of gaining the endorsement of Dew Mayson and Prince Johnson in the second round, as well as stating that Unity should maintain its "connections" at the NEC. Sirleaf's office denied that the analysis had been authorized by or submitted to Sirleaf, saying "The so-called email contains fabrications and lies, and attempts to create confusion in the minds of Liberians as they embark upon this year’s democratic process." Gibson also denied authoring the analysis, noting that while he had assisted Sirleaf during her 2005 campaign, he had not worked for her or any other Liberian political campaign since then.

    Voter fraud

    The NEC announced on 9 August 2011 that it had discovered more than 10,000 people on its voter rolls who had registered more than once to vote in the elections. The NEC forwarded the names to the Ministry of Justice for prosecution for voter fraud. The Justice Ministry later confirmed that it was investigating the matter.

    Pre-election violence

    Senator Gloria Musu Scott of the Unity Party claimed that her vehicle convoy had been attacked on 9 August 2011 while travelling to Monrovia from Maryland County
    Maryland County
    Maryland County is a county in the southeastern portion of the West African nation of Liberia. One of 15 counties that comprise the first-level of administrative division in the nation, it has two districts. Harper serves as the capital with the area of the county measuring...

    , where she had been renominated as the Unity Party's candidate for the county's Senate seat. According to Scott and one of her drivers, she had changed vehicles when the one she was in had broken down. After she left the broken vehicle and its driver behind, five masked men approached the driver looking for her, searching the vehicle before leaving. Scott stated that she had reported the incident to the Justice Ministry for investigation.

    On 15 August 2011, angry protestors attacked George Weah at his home, though he was unharmed. That same day, another group attacked Senator Geraldine Doe-Sheriff, National Chairman of the CDC, and other party officials at the CDC headquarters in Bentol. Doe-Sheriff and the officials were physically beaten and prevented from leaving the building, while a journalist covering the event was also attacked. The protestors were reportedly angered over alleged fraud in the CDC legislative primaries held the previous day.

    Two men destroyed the car of UP party official Eugene Nagbe with a petrol bomb in the yard of his home in Margibi County
    Margibi County
    Margibi is a county on the north to central coast of the West African nation of Liberia. One of 15 counties that comprise the first-level of administrative division in the nation, it has four districts. Kakata serves as the capital with the area of the county measuring...

     on 17 August 2011. Nagbe, who had been Secretary-General of the CDC before leaving to become the Deputy Campaign Manager of Sirleaf's campaign in early 2011, was not harmed in the attack. The Justice Ministry later said that it had begun an investigation into the incident. Former House Speaker Edwin Snowe
    Edwin Snowe
    Edwin Melvin Snowe, Jr. is a Liberian politician. He has served in the House of Representatives of Liberia since January 2006, and he was Speaker of the House of Representatives from January 2006 to February 2007.-Political career:...

     later claimed that Nagbe had previously received a threatening text message from a phone traced to the fiancée of George Weah's chief bodyguard, and that he had forwarded the text to the police. The Liberia National Police later arrested three suspects believed to be involved in the attack on Nagbe, as well as separate instances of armed robbery and gang rape.

    On the same day as the attack on Nagbe, Assistant Information Minister for Culture Jacqueline Capehart was attacked while giving a speech promoting awareness of the constitutional referendum scheduled for 23 August. During her presentation, several youths began throwing stones at her before the police intervened and arrested them. Capehart was not injured during the attack, but a disc jockey participating in the event sustained injuries and was taken to the hospital. Numerous media outlets also reported that on the same day, former footballer Christopher Wreh
    Christopher Wreh
    Christopher Wreh is a Liberia international footballer.-Career:A cousin of former FIFA World Player of the Year George Weah, Wreh first played for Liberian clubs Young Kotoko, La Modelle International and Invincible Eleven, before being snapped up by French side AS Monaco as a youth in 1989...

     was attacked following his endorsement of Sirleaf's presidential campaign. Several unidentified suspects were later arrested by the LNP in connection with the attack on Capehart.

    President Sirleaf addressed the nation on 19 August, condemning the attacks against Doe-Sheriff and Nagbe as "politically motivated." Reiterating her call for peaceful elections, Sirleaf stated, "Violence against, and intimidation of, political actors and individuals undermine and destroy democracy. Such conduct is the beginning of anarchy, and if not deterred, such conduct could reverse the political gains we have made and probably cost our country to retrogress into another civil conflict." Sirleaf also ordered the country's security forces to investigate the attacks and prevent further violence.

    Nobel Peace Prize

    On 7 October 2011, four days prior to the election, Sirleaf was awarded the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize
    2011 Nobel Peace Prize
    The 2011 Nobel Peace Prize was jointly awarded to Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee, a Liberian peace activist, and Tawakkul Karman, a Yemeni journalist, politician and human rights activist, "for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to...

    . Tubman denounced the award to Sirleaf, saying that "she brought war on our country and spoiled the country" and that the award was a "provocative intervention" in Liberian politics. Sirleaf herself called the timing a coincidence and avoided mentioning the award during the final days of campaigning.

    Amendment referendum

    In September 2010, the NEC announced that a popular referendum to ratify four constitutional amendments passed by the Legislature in August 2010 would be held prior to the elections. If passed, three of the amendments would have directly affected the elections:
    • The ten year residency requirement for presidential candidates would have been reduced to five year;
    • Elections would have been held on the second Tuesday of November, delaying the 2011 elections until 8 November;
    • The two-round system
      Two-round system
      The two-round system is a voting system used to elect a single winner where the voter casts a single vote for their chosen candidate...

       used for legislative elections would be replaced by a single-round first-past-the-post
      First-past-the-post
      First-past-the-post voting refers to an election won by the candidate with the most votes. The winning potato candidate does not necessarily receive an absolute majority of all votes cast.-Overview:...

       system, while the presidential election would have continued to use the two-round method.


    The referendum was held on 23 August 2011, and the NEC announced on 31 August that all four amendments had been rejected. Following litigation, the Supreme Court ruled on 20 September that the NEC had improperly calculated the results, and that the amendment replacing the absolute majority requirement and run-off elections for non-presidential elections with a simple majority requirement had been ratified.

    Legal challenge

    On 14 September, presidential candidate Simeon Freeman of the Movement for Progressive Change filed a petition with the Supreme Court requesting that the Court disqualify the six presidential candidates of the Unity Party, Congress for Democratic Change, Liberty Party, National Democratic Coalition, National Union for Democratic Progress and Liberia Transformation Party. The petition argued that due to the failure of the referendum proposal to reduce the residency requirement from 10 to 5 years, these presidential candidates could not contest the election due to their residency outside the country during the Second Liberian Civil War
    Second Liberian Civil War
    The Second Liberian Civil War began in 1999 when a rebel group backed by the government of neighbouring Guinea, the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy , emerged in northern Liberia. In early 2003, a second rebel group, the Movement for Democracy in Liberia, emerged in the south, and...

    . NEC Chairman James Fromayan said that the text of the residency clause was vague, in that it did not define the term "resident" or say whether a candidate had to reside in Liberia for the ten years immediately prior to the election. As such, Fromayan stated that the NEC had qualified the six candidates to run because "we don’t want to penalize anybody on the grounds of a particular constitutional clause that lacks clarity."

    Prior to an preliminary hearing on 20 September, the Supreme Court issued an injunction barring the six parties from campaigning pending the outcome of the litigation. However, the Court lifted the injunction on 20 September after the respondent parties argued that they had not yet been able to submit their responses to the MPC's claims. The Court denied the petitioners' motion on 5 October, ruling that as the residency requirement had been suspended prior to the 2005 elections, the requirement could not be applied until ten years after the suspension.

    Voting

    Voting proceeded smoothly and peacefully, with no reports of violence. Heavy voter turnout was reported in most of the country. Severe rain in Montserrado County
    Montserrado County
    Montserrado County is a county in the northwestern portion of the West African nation of Liberia. One of 15 counties that comprise the first-level of administrative division in the nation, it has four districts. Bensonville serves as the capital with the area of the county measuring , the smallest...

     and some other parts of the country led to minor delays in the opening of some polling places, though most of the country was free from severe weather. President Sirleaf travelled to Feefee in her native Bomi County
    Bomi County
    Bomi is a county in the northwestern portion of the West African nation of Liberia. One of 15 counties that comprise the first-level of administrative division in the nation, it has four districts. Tubmanburg serves as the capital with the area of the county measuring . As of the 2008 Census, it...

     to cast her vote, while Tubman cast his vote at G. W. Gibson High School in Monrovia.

    Reactions

    The observer teams from the Carter Center, ECOWAS and the African Union all praised the first round of elections for their smoothness and peacefulness. Specioza Kazibwe
    Specioza Kazibwe
    Specioza Naigaga Wandira Kazibwe, MBChB, MMed , PhD , is a Ugandan physician, politician and mother. She is sometimes referred to as Nalongo because of her twin daughters .She was elected Vice President of Uganda, serving in that position from 1994 until 2003...

    , the head of the AU observer mission, termed the elections "phenomenal" and praised Liberians for turning out in high numbers despite heavy rain. The AU team also declared the elections to be "free, fair, transparent and credible" and urged all political parties to accept the outcomes of the elections. The ECOWAS observer mission also praised the vote, saying that "on the whole, the elections of 11 October 2011, were conducted under acceptable conditions of freedom of voters and transparency of the process.” The Liberia-based Elections Coordinating Commission commended polling workers for their professionalism and for giving special priority to elderly, disabled and pregnant voters. The Carter Center noted some minor procedural irregularities, but it stated that none of the irregularities were significant enough to affect the outcome of the election and called the elections "peaceful, orderly, and remarkably transparent." United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
    Ban Ki-moon
    Ban Ki-moon is the eighth and current Secretary-General of the United Nations, after succeeding Kofi Annan in 2007. Before going on to be Secretary-General, Ban was a career diplomat in South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the United Nations. He entered diplomatic service the year he...

     stated that the elections were an “important milestone” in the move to “consolidate peace and democracy in the country."

    Opposition withdrawal

    Preliminary results released by the NEC on 14 October 2011 showed, with 50.3% of polling places reporting, Sirleaf leading with 45.4% of the vote, with Tubman in second place with 29.5% and Prince Johnson in third with 11.4%. On 15 October, nine political parties announced that they were withdrawing from the elections and ordering their poll observers to withdraw from the monitoring process, including Tubman's Congress for Democratic Change, Johnson's National Union for Democratic Progress, the National Patriotic Party, National Democratic Coalition, Union of Liberia Democrats, Liberia Transformation Party, Victory for Change Party, Liberia Reconstruction Party, and Grassroot Democratic Party. In a statement, the nine parties claimed that the NEC was fraudulently altering the vote count to favor Sirleaf, saying that they planned to present their evidence of fraud through the media and would not respect the outcome of the elections. They claimed that they could offer witnesses and photographs to back up their claims of fraud. On the same day, a local office of the Unity Party in Monrovia was set ablaze, with UNMIL and the Liberia National Police investigating the incident.

    NEC Chairman Fromayan rejected the opposition's charges, stating, "All the parties participated in the elections. The counting was done and both the local population and the international observers that came acclaimed the process to be free, fair and transparent." A spokesman for the Unity Party accused the opposition of trying to create chaos in the country, saying "They are doing this thing because it is not going their way." The Carter Center stated that it stood by its original description of the election as free and transparent. In reaction to the withdrawal, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, lead prosecutor of the International Criminal Court
    International Criminal Court
    The International Criminal Court is a permanent tribunal to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression .It came into being on 1 July 2002—the date its founding treaty, the Rome Statute of the...

    , said that the prosecutor's office was closely monitoring the events and warned that any use of violence by the parties and candidates would not be tolerated.

    On 16 October, the NEC released additional results based on 96.7% of polling places reporting that had Sirleaf still leading with 44% of the vote, Tubman increasing his second place total to 32.2% of the vote and Prince Johnson with 11.8%. The nine opposition parties called for a recount of the votes, as well as for the NEC to release the total number of votes in each county and district. However, Tubman said that based on the updated results, he would be willing to participate in the likely run-off election between Sirleaf and himself, backing off from his previous statements.

    Endorsements

    On 18 October, Prince Johnson announced that he was endorsing Sirleaf in the second-round, saying, "This is because some of her policies are good for this country. If all her policies are not good, we will do addition and subtraction so that what we want to see in it will be reflected." He termed his choice of Sirleaf "the lesser of two evils" and added that he refused to support Tubman because of the CDC's stated aim of implementing the TRC
    Truth and Reconciliation Commission (Liberia)
    The Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission is a Parliament-enacted organization created in May 2005 under Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.Its mandate is to "promote national peace, security, unity and reconciliation" by investigating more than 20 years of civil conflict in the country and to report on...

     report that recommended prosecution of Johnson for war crimes. Former President Moses Blah
    Moses Blah
    Moses Zeh Blah is a Liberian political figure. He served as Vice President under President Charles Taylor and became the 23rd President of Liberia on 11 August 2003, following Taylor's resignation...

     endorsed Sirleaf on 24 October, praising her administration's development projects in his native Nimba County
    Nimba County
    Nimba is a county in the north-central portion of the West African nation of Liberia. One of 15 counties that comprise the first-level of administrative division in the nation, it has six districts. Sanniquellie serves as the capital with the area of the county measuring , the largest in the nation...

    . Seventh-place finisher Togba-Nah Tipoteh
    Togba-Nah Tipoteh
    Togba-Nah Tipoteh is a politician, economist, and educator, having mostly recently been presidential candidate for Liberia's 2005 elections, running as the candidate for the Alliance for Peace and Democracy...

     of the Freedom Alliance Party of Liberia
    Freedom Alliance Party of Liberia
    The Freedom Alliance Party of Liberia is a political party in Liberia. It fielded candidates in the 11 October 2005 elections.FAPL candidate Margaret Tor-Thompson won 0.9% of the vote in the presidential poll. The party failed to win any seats in the Senate or House of Representatives....

     also endorsed Sirleaf for the second round on 27 October, citing her administration for the level of transparency it had brought to the political process. Charles Brumskine, who came in fourth in the first round, endorsed Sirleaf on 31 October, saying, "[O]ur task as we see it is one of judging capacity and potential and making good faith effort to help move our country forward.” Sirleaf also received the endorsement of Gladys Beyan, the sixth-place finisher in the presidential election for the Grassroot Democratic Party of Liberia.

    CDC boycott

    Ten opposition parties, including the nine parties that briefly withdrew from the elections, met with Ellen Margrethe Løj
    Ellen Margrethe Løj
    Ellen Margrethe Løj was the Ambassador to the United Nations for Denmark from 2001 until 2007. She also served as Denmark's ambassador to the Czech Republic before she was appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General as Special Representative for Liberia in October 2007.- Career :Løj began...

    , Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General to UNMIL, on 17 October, asking the UN to manage the run-off elections in place of the NEC. ECOWAS announced that same day that it would be sending a larger contingent of observers for the run-off election, but also chastised the opposition parties for their actions after the first-round elections and urged them to use “constitutional means” to redress their grievances.

    On 26 October, Tubman stated that unless the leadership of the NEC was replaced, the CDC would boycott the run-off election. Tubman said that his party had lost confidence in the impartiality of the NEC due to the CDC's allegations of vote-tampering and its feeling that the NEC had not sufficiently addressed its concerns. Acarous Gray, the Secretary-General of the CDC, specified on 27 October that unless the government dismissed NEC Chairman Fromayan, it would not participate in the second round. This threat came in the wake of an official letter received by the CDC from the NEC informing the CDC that it had placed first in the first-round presidential election with 43.9% of the vote against UP's 32.7%. The CDC cited this letter as evidence of fraud on the part of the NEC to favor UP. The NEC acknowledged the letter, but said that the incorrect voting figures had been a typographical error. The NEC fired the head of its communication department on 28 October as a result of the error.

    Fromayan resigned as NEC Chairman on 30 October, saying, "I am resigning to give way to peace. I do not want to be the obstacle to the holding of the run-off election." His deputy chairperson, Elizabeth J. Nelson, assumed his role at the NEC that same day. Sirleaf's press secretary said that Sirleaf had accepted Fromayan's resignation, adding, "The president also thanked him for his service to the people of Liberia." Tubman welcomed the news, stating, "It is a victory for the CDC, a victory for democracy and a victory for the Liberian people." However, CDC Secretary-General Acarous Gray stated on 31 October that while Fromayan's resignation was a step forward, the CDC would not participate in the run-off election unless the NEC recounted the votes of the first round and sufficiently investigated its claims of ballot tampering. Tubman responded that same day that he, and not Gray, was empowered to make the decision over whether or not to participate in the run-off election, and that he had not yet made a decision. The Deputy Information Minister for Public Affairs, Jerelimic Piah, said that the government viewed the contradictory statements from Tubman and the CDC leadership as evidence that Tubman was not in control of his party and urged Tubman to assert his leadership over the CDC to curtail "provocative comments" being made by CDC officials.

    On 4 November, Tubman stated that he would boycott the second round, saying, "We will never reward fraud and abuse of power and will never grant legitimacy to a corrupt political process." Tubman added that "any government coming out of the 8 November process will be done without a national mandate to govern and will not be recognised by the CDC." The NEC said that under the terms of the country's constitution and elections law, the second round would proceed regardless of the CDC's boycott and urged voters to turn out.

    Reactions
    Sirleaf urged voters to attend the polls and vote for the candidate of their choice in a national radio address on 5 November, arguing that "Tubman...has called on Liberians to give up their franchise, their right to vote" and that "what he is doing is forfeiting the right to the finals because he fears defeat." ECOWAS stated that it was disappointed in Tubman's "retrogressive tone" and reitereted its call for the CDC to participate in the run-off, adding that it would recognize any winner it judged to have been elected in a free and fair election regardless of the boycott. The head of the AU observer mission, Speciosa Kazibwe, said, "We are very concerned. It's a bad signal ... political leaders must be prepared to win or lose." A spokeswoman for the US State Department
    United States Department of State
    The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...

     also expressed disappointment in Tubman's decision, as she noted that "the CDC’s charge that the first-round election was fraudulent is unsubstantiated." The spokesman also warned against any attempts at violence by CDC partisans.

    Violence

    Clashes between the Liberia National Police (LNP) and CDC protestors left at least two people dead and several wounded outside of the CDC headquarters in Sinkor
    Sinkor
    Sinkor is a section of the Monrovia metropolitan area in Liberia. It is the location of the Spriggs Payne Airport. United Nations Mission in Liberia has its headquarters in Sinkor...

     on 7 November 2011. The CDC had bussed in hundreds of CDC partistans to participate in a protest against the holding of the second-round election. The protestors said they had planned to march through Monrovia to the UNMIL headquarters and the United States Embassy to present a petition protesting the second-round elections. When the LNP blocked off access to Tubman Boulevard, the crowd began throwing stones at the officers and attempting to break through the police line, leading to tear gas being deployed and shooting which killed at least one person.

    A spokesman for the LNP initially claimed that the officers had not deployed live rounds against the protestors, limiting themselves to tear gas in order "to disperse the crowd so that people who were not part of the demonstration could move about freely." Tubman and Weah cited the incident as evidence that the run-off should not take place. The LNP later admitted that one police officer had fired into the crowd, and that the officer had been detained by UNMIL. Justice Minister Christiana Tah said that security would be increased during the election and that an investigation would be conducted into the incident. While initial reports from the scene claimed that at least for people had been killed, officials later said that only two people had died. On 11 November, President Sirleaf announced the formation of a independent commission to investigate the shooting and vowed that any person who had broken the law would be brought to justice. On the commission's recommendation, Sirleaf dismissed LNP Inspector General Marc Amblard, who accepted responsibility for the incident.

    Closure of media outlets

    Following the riot on 7 November, the government shut down four radio stations and three television stations, all of which were reported to be pro-CDC outlets. The government said that the closures had been legal, with a writ ordering the closures issued by the First Judicial Circuit Criminal Court in Monrovia. The government's petition to the Court argued that the stations had "illegally used their respective media outlets by broadcasting hate messages against the government and deliberately spreading misinformation and messages of violence, and instigating the people to rise up and take to the streets and engage in confrontation with the Liberia National Police and the United Nations security forces.” Sirleaf later said that the closures had been conducted "with the aim to prevent the incitement of further violence and protect lives." The closures were condemned by the Press Union of Liberia, the Liberia Media Center, the Center for Media Studies and Peace Building, Reporters Without Borders
    Reporters Without Borders
    Reporters Without Borders is a France-based international non-governmental organization that advocates freedom of the press. It was founded in 1985, by Robert Ménard, Rony Brauman and the journalist Jean-Claude Guillebaud. Jean-François Julliard has served as Secretary General since 2008...

    , the Committee to Protect Journalists
    Committee to Protect Journalists
    The Committee to Protect Journalists is an independent nonprofit organisation based in New York City that promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists.-History:A group of U.S...

    , and the Liberty Party. The First Judicial Circuit Criminal Court ordered the reopening of the stations on 15 November.

    Voting

    Turnout on the day of the run-off was low, with some polling stations closing early upon realizing that no more voters would show up. Nevertheless, international observers from ECOWAS and the Carter Center commended the election, with the Carter Center saying, "Liberia's run-off election was conducted in general accordance with the country's legal framework and international obligations, which provide for genuine democratic elections. While the run-off was undermined by the CDC boycott, the eruption of electoral violence, and low voter turnout, it allowed Liberians who wished to participate to express their will in a transparent and credible process."

    Reactions

    Tubman initially expressed his interest in reconciling with the government, saying on 11 November that ""since Mrs. Sirleaf will now claim she is the president and is recognized by the international community, we have to find a way to work with her and I believe it is not beyond our ability to find a way for that to happen." However, he reversed his position the next day, terming the Unity Party "election hijackers" and calling for new elections and further protest by CDC supporters. The government rejected Tubman's demand for new elections.

    On 11 November, Sirleaf announced that she would establish a "national peace and reconciliation initiative" to address the country's divisions and begin "a national dialogue that would bring us together." Nobel Peace Prize laureate Leymah Gbowee
    Leymah Gbowee
    Leymah Roberta Gbowee is a Liberian peace activist responsible for leading a women's peace movement that brought an end to the Second Liberian Civil War in 2003. This led to the election of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in Liberia, the first African nation with a female president...

     was chosen by Sirleaf to lead to initative.

    Post-election events

    Representative Nelson Wah Barh, who had been re-elected as the House representative for Sinoe County
    Sinoe County
    Sinoe is one of Liberia's 15 counties and it has 17 districts. Greenville is the county's capital.As of the 2008 Census, it had a population of 104,932, making it one of the least populous counties in Liberia....

    District 3, died on 17 October shortly before a party intended to celebrate his re-election. The NEC announced that it would hold a by-election to fill Barh's seat, but noted that the election could not be held until the 53rd Legislature had convened in January and officially informed the NEC of the vacancy.
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