Liberia - March 2023

As part of the preparations for the October 2023 general elections in Liberia, the legislature passed an act to amend portions of the electoral law in October 2022. On 16 March 2023, President George Weah approved the act, but used his line-item veto power to strike down several sections of the act, citing their non-conformity with other laws or duplication of existing law. The sections vetoed by the President include paragraphs that would have created a new independent body to hear complaints about the conduct of elections. The act had been alternatively criticized and praised for its various provisions. A revision that gives the gender quota (requiring that 30 per cent of the candidates in each party list are women) an enforcement mechanism via delisting parties that do not comply was approved by the President. The amended law will also allow diasporan Liberians to vote if they have valid Liberian identification (including passports). However, opposition parties have noted with concern that the new law significantly raises the filing fees for would-be candidates for office.

Sources: AllAfrica (1), Executive Mansion of Liberia, Front Page Africa, Daily Observer, AllAfrica (2), The New Dawn