2005 Liberian general election
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Presidential election | ||||||||||||||||||||
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General elections were held in
Background
Frances Johnson-Morris, the chairwoman of the National Elections Commission (NEC), announced the October 11 date on February 7, 2005.[1]
Elections were scheduled for all 64 seats in the House of Representatives, with each of Liberia's 15 counties having at least two seats and the remaining seats allotted proportionally based on voter registration.[2] The Senate had 30 seats up for elections, with two from each county.
Presidential candidates
Prior to the election, former
- Nathaniel Barnes — Liberia Destiny Party (LDP)
- Charles Brumskine — Liberty Party (LP)
- Sekou Conneh — Progressive Democratic Party (PRODEM)
- Samuel Raymond Divine — Independent
- David Farhat — Free Democratic Party (FDP)
- Armah Jallah — National Party of Liberia (NPL)
- Ellen Johnson Sirleaf — Unity Party (UP)
- George Kiadii — National Vision Party of Liberia (NATVIPOL)
- George Klay Kieh — New Deal Movement (NDM)
- Joseph Korto — Liberia Equal Rights Party (LERP)
- Robert Kpoto — Union of Liberian Democrats (ULD)
- Alhaji G.V. Kromah — All Liberia Coalition Party(ALCOP)
- Roland Massaquoi — National Patriotic Party (NPP)
- John Morlu — United Democratic Alliance (UDA)
- Alfred Reeves — National Reformation Party (NRP)
- Varney Sherman — Coalition for the Transformation of Liberia (COTOL)
- Togba-Nah Tipoteh — Alliance for Peace and Democracy (APD)
- Margaret Tor-Thompson — Freedom Alliance Party of Liberia (FAPL)
- Winston Tubman — National Democratic Party of Liberia (NDPL)
- William V.S. Tubman, Jr. — Reformed United Liberia Party(RULP)
- George Weah — Congress for Democratic Change (CDC)
- Labor Party of Liberia(LPL)
Excluded candidates
The chairman of the transitional government, Gyude Bryant, and other members of the transitional government did not run, according to the terms of the peace deal.[citation needed]
On August 13, the election commission published a list of 22 presidential candidates who were cleared to run; six candidates were rejected, but Weah was cleared to stand despite complaints that he had adopted French citizenship. The Senate seats were contested by 206 candidates and the seats in the lower house were contested by 503 candidates. [1] Campaigning for the elections began on August 15.
In late September, the Supreme Court ruled that two excluded presidential candidates, Marcus Jones and Cornelius Hunter, and an excluded legislative candidate could register to run; this ruling created the possibility that the elections would have to be postponed in order to reprint ballot papers. However, these candidates later withdrew their bids, so the elections went ahead on schedule on October 11.[5]
Results
President
Voting took place in two rounds 11 October and 8 November. Twenty-two people contested the presidential race in the first round. George Weah, former soccer star and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former World Bank employee and finance minister finished first and second, respectively and advanced to the second round run-off, which Johnson-Sirleaf won 59%-41%, according to the National Electoral Commission.
Weah claimed
On December 22, 2005, Weah withdrew his protests, and in January, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf became the first democratically elected female Head of State in the history of the African Continent, and the first native female African head of state since
Candidate | Running mate | Party | First round | Second round | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Votes | % | Votes | % | ||||
Labor Party of Liberia | 5,948 | 0.61 | |||||
Sekou Conneh | Edward Yarkpawolo Sali | Progressive Democratic Party | 5,499 | 0.56 | |||
David Farhat | Saah Ciapha Gbollie | Free Democratic Party | 4,497 | 0.46 | |||
George Klay Kieh | Alaric Tokpa | New Deal Movement | 4,476 | 0.46 | |||
Armah Jallah | Isaac G. Sammy Sr. | National Party of Liberia | 3,837 | 0.39 | |||
Robert Kpoto | Sylvester Bondo Singbe | Union of Liberian Democrats | 3,825 | 0.39 | |||
George Kiadii | Washington Shadrack McGill | National Vision Party of Liberia | 3,646 | 0.37 | |||
Samuel Raymond Divine | Jacob Gbanalagaye Mamu Sr. | Independent | 3,188 | 0.33 | |||
Alfred Reeves | Martin Mohammed Njavola Sherif | National Reformation Party | 3,156 | 0.32 | |||
Total | 973,790 | 100.00 | 805,572 | 100.00 | |||
Valid votes | 973,790 | 96.16 | 805,572 | 97.56 | |||
Invalid/blank votes | 38,883 | 3.84 | 20,144 | 2.44 | |||
Total votes | 1,012,673 | 100.00 | 825,716 | 100.00 | |||
Registered voters/turnout | 1,352,730 | 74.86 | 1,352,730 | 61.04 | |||
Source: National Elections Commission |
House of Representatives
Party | Votes | % | Seats | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Labor Party of | 7,811 | 0.84 | 0 | |
Liberia Equal Rights Party | 7,256 | 0.78 | 0 | |
Reformed United Liberia Party | 6,252 | 0.67 | 0 | |
Liberia Destiny Party | 5,493 | 0.59 | 0 | |
National Vision Party of Liberia | 3,443 | 0.37 | 0 | |
National Party of Liberia | 1,532 | 0.16 | 0 | |
Independents | 68,387 | 7.31 | 7 | |
Total | 935,361 | 100.00 | 64 | |
Valid votes | 935,361 | 94.68 | ||
Invalid/blank votes | 52,550 | 5.32 | ||
Total votes | 987,911 | 100.00 | ||
Registered voters/turnout | 1,291,541 | 76.49 | ||
Source: African Elections Database |
Senate
As no Senate existed prior to the elections, each voter was eligible to cast two ballots for different candidates. The two candidates with the highest number of votes in each county were elected. The candidate with the highest share of votes became the
Party | Votes | % | Seats | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Labor Party | 1,645 | 0.10 | 0 | |
Independents | 301,729 | 17.84 | 3 | |
Total | 1,690,902 | 100.00 | 30 | |
Registered voters/turnout | 1,291,541 | – | ||
Source: NEC |
References
- ^ "Liberia to hold elections October 11", Agence France-Presse (AFP), February 7, 2005.
- ^ "Liberia electoral reform bill signed into law", AFP, December 17, 2004.
- ^ "Football legend George Weah urged to stand for Liberian presidency", AFP, October 3, 2004.
- ^ Terence Sesay, "Presidential candidate Weah takes Monrovia by storm", Deutsche Presse-Agentur, November 24, 2004.
- ^ "Two Liberian candidates stand down to prevent delay of election", Deutsche Presse-Agentur, October 6, 2005.
- ^ Liberia set for first woman president Al Jazeera, 10 November 2015
External links
General information
- National Elections Commission
- Liberia 2005: The Road to Democracy
- United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) Electoral Division
- United Liberia - Latest News
- Press Freedom Conditions in Liberia - IFEX
- All Africa, Liberia news
Candidates
- Nat Barnes for President
- Charles Brumskine Campaign Site
- Samuel Raymond Divine Campaign Site
- John Morlu for President
- Varney Sherman for President
- Dr. Togba-Nah Tipoteh for President
- Winston Tubman Campaign Site
- George Weah Campaign Site
Articles
- I am woman, hear my roar Katharine Houreld on the participation of women in the 2005 Liberian election.