Liberia Launches Elections Coordinating Committee

Liberia’s nascent democracy will be tested this year as the country prepares to hold a referendum and an election in rapid succession with limited international assistance. This is in sharp contrast to 2005 when elections were conducted with significant support from the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL).

On Aug. 23, Liberia will hold a referendum on four proposed constitutional amendments, including one that will determine residency requirements for presidential and vice presidential candidates and another that will set a date for presidential and legislative elections in October or November. A peaceful and credible election process will not only help consolidate the political and economic gains made since the end of the civil war in 2003 but will have a positive regional impact in the wake of the destabilizing electoral crisis in neighboring Cote d’Ivoire.

To help ensure credible elections, Liberia’s Election Coordinating Committee (ECC), a coalition of seven civil society organizations set to observe the August referendum, launched on June 23. Following months of meetings, the ECC emerged as a supervisory board representing two coalitions of civic groups that have joined forces to become the only nationwide domestic observation effort for this year’s electoral process. The ECC will provide nonpartisan assessments and report on any elections-related violence or conflict during the campaign periods. It will observe before, during and after the referendum and plans to observe the fall presidential and legislative elections.

The organizations that make up the ECC have extensive experience from observing the 2005 general elections and subsequent by-elections, and will collectively provide national coverage throughout Liberia’s 15 counties. The group’s primary objectives are to provide Liberian civil society with a strong, coherent voice, and to “promote free and transparent elections, and mitigate the propensity for conflict,” according to ECC member G. Jasper Cummeh.

Liberia’s National Elections Commission approves of and supports the ECC observation plan. The ECC will train and deploy 400 observers for the referendum and 2,000 observers for the fall elections. They will be assigned to polling stations throughout Liberia based on the population of each county. To build support for the observation, the ECC will meet with political parties and media outlets as the formal campaign season kicks into high gear in the coming weeks.

NDI, with funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development, will provide technical and financial support to the ECC. The Institute will assist in program design, particularly in refining the group’s communication and reporting strategies and training observers. The ECC will receive additional financial support from the Open Society Initiative for West Africa.

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Published August 4, 2011