Liberia Civic verified record

2011 Constitutional Referendum

LIBERIA CIVIC VERIFIED RECORD · CONSTITUTIONAL REFERENDUM

Liberia held a national constitutional referendum on 23 August 2011. Voters considered four separate amendments concerning presidential residency, judicial retirement, the election date and the voting system for non-presidential elections.

Participation

  • Registered voters: 1,798,930
  • Voters participating: 615,703
  • Turnout: 34.2%
  • Polling places reporting: 4,457 of 4,457

Proposition 1 · Presidential residency

Reduce the residency requirement for presidential and vice-presidential candidates from ten years to five.

Yes 292,318 · No 246,473 · Invalid 76,912 — Rejected.

Proposition 2 · Judicial retirement

Increase the mandatory retirement age for Supreme Court justices and judges from seventy to seventy-five.

Yes 221,163 · No 322,223 · Invalid 72,317 — Rejected.

Proposition 3 · Election date

Move national elections from the second Tuesday in October to the second Tuesday in November.

Yes 307,647 · No 234,517 · Invalid 73,539 — Rejected.

Proposition 4 · Electoral system

Use a simple-majority, single-round rule for legislative and municipal elections while preserving the presidential runoff system.

Yes 364,901 · No 174,469 · Invalid 76,333 — Approved after judicial review.

NEC certification and Supreme Court correction

The National Elections Commission initially announced that all four propositions had failed because it included invalid ballots when calculating the required two-thirds. On 20 September 2011, the Supreme Court ordered invalid votes excluded from the calculation and held that Proposition Four had received 67.65 percent of valid votes, sufficient for ratification.

Verification status

Verified official record with judicial correction. Figures are drawn from the NEC’s final declaration; the final legal outcome incorporates the Supreme Court ruling on Proposition Four.

Sources