Author: Jebeh Kawa
The formation of the National Elections Commission (NEC) of Liberia was part of the 2003 Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended 14 years of civil war in the country. The NEC replaced the 1986 Elections Commission. [1] It is one of three autonomous public commissions established by the country’s 1986 constitution. [2]
In Liberia, the legal framework for the conduct of the 2011 elections included the constitution, the Elections Law as amended by the Electoral Reform Law of 2004, organic laws of the courts, the law on political parties, as well as NEC regulations and decisions. [3]
As an autonomous government agency that is independent of any branch of government, the commission’s powers and duties include:
The NEC itself incorporated amendments to the 1986 Elections Law in 2003 and 2004 and instituted several guidelines for the conduct of elections, including:
The seven-member governing board of commissioners of the NEC comprises a chairperson, co-chairperson and five commissioners; each has oversight of assigned political subdivisions with the chairperson having oversight of the most populous region. The criteria for becoming a commissioner are not extensive. They require only that the person is a Liberian citizen, at least 35 years of age, of good moral character, unaffiliated with any political party and not from the same county as another commissioner.
The commission has an executive director, as well as a legal section that is responsible for performing all legal duties related to the administration of the Elections Law. Election magistrates are assigned to each of Liberia’s 15 political subdivisions, and in heavily populated regions more than one magistrate may be designated. The magistrates serve as liaisons between the commission and the county or district they represent on election matters.
Supporting staff at both the central office and in political subdivisions — including civic education directors, political party liaisons, technical support personnel, registrars, presiding officers and other poll workers — are appointed by the commission. [4]
In addition to the primary functions of the NEC, the following comprise the essential duties of the commission:
Seven NEC commissioners are appointed by the president of Liberia, with the advice and consent of the senate, to govern the affairs of the commission for a period of seven years as long as they do not engage in misconduct. With the consent of the senate, the president nominates an executive director, who serves at the pleasure of the president.
Upon consultation with the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Liberia and the minister of justice, the commission nominates and, with the consent of the president of Liberia, appoints legal counsels and research officers who serve at the pleasure of the commission. Other employees of the Legal Section are appointed by the commission on the basis of their civil service qualifications and serve at the pleasure of the commission.
The commission appoints within each county or district as many magistrates of elections as necessary, as well as local district workers who are usually recommended by the district magistrate. The Board of Commissioners appoints the supporting staff of the central office.
The NEC submits an annual budget to Liberia’s Budget Bureau for consideration and approval. Upon approval of the budget, funds are paid in a timely manner, according to the planned expenditure, into an account established by the NEC. International donor support was critical in both the 2005 and 2011 national elections, although less so during the 2011 elections. While the NEC has not published its 2011 elections report, the estimated 2010–11 budget was over USD 38 million, of which over USD 27 million (70 per cent) came from international donors. [6]
During the 2010–11 electoral cycle, funds from gender mainstreaming projects were intermittently redirected to processes regarded as more critical to the success of the national elections, such as voter registration, poll worker training and technology acquisitions.
The NEC is required to publish an annual updated strategy, together with an annual plan and the funding provision for that year, as agreed with the Budget Bureau. It is also required to submit annual reports to the National Legislature and the president of Liberia on its general operations.
The commission is also required to publish an annual report and an externally audited set of accounts related to its achievements and activities compared to the annual plan. The report must reflect sources and usage of Liberian government and external funds and other resources.
Challenges and complaints are assessed, investigated and determined according to regulations and procedures issued by the NEC. Critical issues are heard by a chief hearing officer in Monrovia, who makes recommendations to the NEC’s Board of Commissioners. Other issues are investigated, heard and determined by the magistrate, who is assisted by a local hearing officer. An NEC or magistrate decision is published on the premises of the NEC or the magistrate’s office, respectively. A magistrate’s decision can be appealed to the NEC Board of Commissioners within 72 hours.
A determination by the NEC Board of Commissioners on a complaint can be appealed to the Supreme Court of Liberia no later than 48 hours after the determination is issued. After the final results are announced, complaints may be filed with the NEC; NEC decisions may be appealed to the Supreme Court. The judiciary hears and adjudicates any complaint cases against the electoral process that have been appealed to the Supreme Court. [7]
Through continuous training, electoral officers are typically well versed in the conduct of their duties, with the exception of the gender sensitivity component (discussed below).
The media operates under the Press Union of Liberia (PUL) Code of Conduct for elections coverage. Liberian journalists continue to work with the NEC and its partners by engaging in capacity-building workshops. [8] The only specific provision regarding the NEC’s media access during election campaign periods is Article 10.21 of the Election Law, which states, ‘Political parties are also privileged to use, and shall not be denied the right to use any public building or such facilities necessary and appropriate for their purpose’, as long as a ‘timely request’ is made. [9] The NEC has no direct ability to regulate political parties’ free access to publicly owned media.
The NEC deals extensively with stakeholders in the electoral process through its liaison officers, including political parties and candidates, executive government entities, the legislature, the judicial system, election monitors and citizen and international election observers, the media, the electorate, non-governmental and community organizations, and donor and electoral assistance agencies. The NEC fosters numerous partnerships, agreements and understandings that are critical to the successful conduct of elections, including training and information dissemination workshops, codes of conduct and memoranda of understanding.
During election exercises, the relationship between the NEC and political parties and the media has become strained on a number of occasions due to perceived biases in the commission’s conduct. The NEC chairperson resigned in October 2011 following intense pressure from the main opposition party over the chairperson’s alleged partiality to the incumbent candidate.
Financial and logistical support remains a critical challenge to the successful operation of the commission, including staff capacity building and civic education.
The central and satellite structures of the NEC include both a technology and a telecommunications division. The technology division normally operates with a skeletal team that is augmented during the election phase.
Technologies such as solar panels for remote power supplies, satellite dishes for data transmission and mobile phones were critical in the 2011 elections to ensure the timely reporting of election results.
The NEC’s structure facilitates the successful conduct of national elections and the maintenance of political (and thereby social and economic) stability based on the public’s (and parties’) perception of its trustworthiness. The Carter Center states that ‘Throughout the 2011 elections, the NEC demonstrated its technical competence and effectiveness administering credible elections that met international standards.’ [10] Nevertheless, electoral reform to address flaws that resulted in major disputes, continuous and consistent training of NEC staff, and disseminating information to the general and voting public as well as political parties, media and other stakeholders are essential to sustaining the current achievements.
The NEC formally instituted its gender mainstreaming efforts with the creation of a Gender Office in 2010. Because this coincided with the height of the electoral cycle, the commission’s efforts were focused externally on increasing female participation in all aspects of the elections —particularly candidacy, registration and voting.
During the 2011 national electoral cycle, the work culture of the NEC was still heavily male dominated at all levels of the organization, with the exception of the Board of Commissioners. A breakdown of NEC staff showed that the Board of Commissioners was 47 per cent female (three out of seven), and the executive and deputy executive directors (five members) included no females. Of the 14 directors, two were females (14 per cent), and women constituted 27 per cent (21 out of 78) of officers and supervisors and 11 per cent (27 out of 239) of non-officers. [11] Data on poll workers was not disaggregated by sex.
As of December 2013, the NEC does not have a formal gender policy. However, a draft gender policy has been crafted and is under review by the commission’s board of directors. The draft policy proposes to:
Operational planning for the 2011 elections discounted the unique needs of women working in the field. For example, a number of locations where female staff worked during election exercises (registration, polling) were not equipped with adequate toilets.
The NEC’s leadership demonstrated an extensive commitment to promoting gender equality in the conduct of its external elections operations. Modest budgetary and logistical assistance was extended to support various projects to promote the equal participation of women and men in the election despite the stiff competition with other elections processes for resources. In just over a year, the Gender Office conducted at least five major exercises advancing gender equality, in addition to information campaigns, capacity-building training for potential candidates and Gender Office staff, and consultations with other stakeholders, such as the media and political parties, which heavily influenced the level of female participation in electoral exercises.
Through the Gender Office programmes, the NEC developed and deployed various materials to promote gender sensitivity and equality, including the use of billboards, flyers, t-shirts, and radio and TV jingles and specials.
Up to 2011, only the Gender Office staff were actively and continuously trained in gender mainstreaming principles, including BRIDGE Gender and Elections training and UNDP Transformative and Gender-sensitive Elections Management workshops, although proposals for organization-wide training were repeatedly submitted. Due to ongoing election activities (voter registration, referendum, polling), gender mainstreaming training for NEC staff in general was assigned non-priority status.
At a certain point during the 2010–11 electoral cycle, magistrates were required to record the male-female ratio of registrants and voters. However, no such data is recorded for temporary NEC staff at polling centres. Regardless, the data collected was not used to account for gender mainstreaming in the organization’s operational planning.
The NEC Gender Office engaged in several information dissemination campaigns and consultations and workshops with political parties and CSOs to enhance women’s political participation in the 2010–11 electoral process, including:
The NEC strongly supported the introduction of a gender quota bill to Liberia’s national legislature in May 2011. The NEC Gender Office supported women’s civil society and community organizations by joining demonstrations on the senate grounds and observing the senate floor during the introduction of the bill. The bill and its modified successor were both struck down in the senate, without ever reaching the House of Representatives. Without a gender quota law, the NEC faces the usual challenges of implementing voluntary quotas and the objections it invites tokenism and discriminates against men.
Notes
[1] Republic of Liberia, New Elections Law (September 1986, updated 2003, 2004).
[2] National Constitution Committee, Constitution of the Republic of Liberia (Monrovia: Republic of Liberia, 1986).
[3] The Carter Center, National Elections in Liberia Final Report, 2011.
[4] New Elections Law, Section 2.9: Powers and Duties.
[5] Ibid.
[6] UNDP Liberia, Project Document Support to the 2010–2012 Liberian Electoral Cycle, (Monrovia: UNDP, 2010).
[7] International Foundation for Electoral Systems, Elections in Liberia 8 November Presidential Run-off Election Frequently Asked Questions (Monrovia: IFES, 2011).
[8] NEC website, available at http://www.necliberia.org/other.php?&7d5f44532cbfc489b 8db9e12e44eb820=NTI0, accessed 31 October 2013.
[9] Republic of Liberia, New Elections Law, S. 10.21: Freedom of Travel Throughout the Country and the Use of Public Facilities by Political Parties (September 1986, updated 2003, 2004).
[10] Carter Center 2011.
[11] Data collected from NEC Human Resource Office, May 2011.
