Liberia’s 2017 Presidential and Representative Elections
Liberians voted on 10 October 2017 to elect a president and all 73 members of the House of Representatives. With no presidential candidate receiving an absolute majority, George Weah of the Coalition for Democratic Change and Joseph Boakai of the Unity Party advanced to a runoff.
First-round presidential result
- Registered voters: 2,183,629.
- Total votes cast: 1,641,922 (75.2% turnout).
- George Manneh Weah — CDC: 596,037 votes (38.4%).
- Joseph Nyuma Boakai — Unity Party: 446,716 votes (28.8%).
- Charles Walker Brumskine — Liberty Party: 149,495 votes (9.6%).
- Prince Y. Johnson — MDR: 127,666 votes (8.2%).
- Alexander B. Cummings — ANC: 112,067 votes (7.2%).
Runoff and court proceedings
The runoff was initially scheduled for 7 November. Legal challenges brought by the Liberty Party delayed it while complaints about the first round were examined. After the Supreme Court cleared the process to continue and directed electoral reforms, the runoff was held on 26 December 2017.
- Total votes cast: 1,218,124—about 55.8% of registered voters.
- George Weah / Jewel Howard-Taylor — CDC: 732,185 votes (61.5%).
- Joseph Boakai / Emmanuel Nuquay — Unity Party: 457,579 votes (38.5%).
Weah and Howard-Taylor were declared elected. The result produced Liberia’s first peaceful transfer of presidential power between living elected leaders in more than seven decades.
House of Representatives
No party won a majority in the 73-member House. The CDC won 21 seats, the Unity Party 20, independent candidates 13, the People’s Unification Party five, and the Liberty Party and All Liberian Party three each. Other parties shared the remaining eight seats. Nine women were elected, representing 12.3% of the House.
Sources and verification
Figures are drawn from the NEC first-round final report and NEC runoff results portal. Process and observation context are cross-checked against the Carter Center final report, while House figures are supported by the IPU parliamentary record.
Editorial note: the runoff turnout percentage shown here is calculated from NEC’s 1,218,124 votes cast and the 2,183,629 registered voters reported for the 2017 election.