Liberia - November 2023

In the first round of the presidential election in October, leading candidates Joseph Boakai of the Unity Party (UP) and incumbent President George Weah of the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) were separated by less than one per cent of the vote. Voters were asked to choose between these top two candidates in a second round on 14 November. The official results from the National Elections Commission gave Boakai 50.6 per cent, while Weah received 49.4 per cent. Turnout was 66.1 per cent of registered voters, down from 78.8 per cent in the general election (including the first round of the presidential election) in October. Weah was quick to concede to Boakai and made a public statement urging his supporters to accept the result of the election. His support for the electoral process was widely celebrated in the region. Observers from the European Union stated that the second round was well conducted, and some of the procedural problems in the first round had been corrected.

Sources: National Elections Commission, Reuters, News24, European Union