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2020 Liberian constitutional referendum

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A constitutional referendum was held in Liberia on 8 December 2020 alongside Senate elections and two by-elections to the House of Representatives. It had been planned for 13 October, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[1] Voters were asked whether they approved of eight amendments to the constitution, voting separately on each one. Although a majority of valid votes were in favour of each proposal, the two-thirds quorum was not met for any proposal.

Background

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The government had planned to bundle the eight amendments into three questions, with one question on amending article 28 (citizenship), one on amending articles 45, 47, 48, 49 and 50 on the terms of office of the President, Senate and House of Representatives, and one on amending article 83 to change the date of general elections and decrease the time the Elections Commission has to investigate complaints.[2] However, this was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, as article 92 requires amendments to be voted on separately.[2] This was taken by many to mean the referendum was cancelled.[3] However, Solicitor-General Syrenius Cephus claimed the ruling meant that if the questions were unbundled, the referendum could go ahead. The National Elections Commission subsequently began printing new ballot papers with the amendments separated out.[4]

The opposition Collaborating Political Parties attempted to appeal to the Supreme Court, but were unsuccessful.[5] Despite reports that the changes would lead to George Weah's third presidential term like in other Western African neighbors, Weah denied the move.[6]

Proposed amendments

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  • Article 28: Amend the constitutional rights of citizenship. Citizenship is granted automatically if both parents were Liberian citizens at the time of their birth; the amendments proposed require only one parent to be a Liberian citizen, remove the ability of the government to legislate to remove citizenship of natural born citizens and prohibit citizens with dual citizenship from holding senior positions, including justices of the Supreme Court, ministerial positions, heads of government agencies, ambassadorships and the chief of staff and deputy chief of staff of the military.
  • Article 45: Reducing Senators' terms from nine to seven years
  • Article 47: Reducing the term of the President of the Senate from six to five years
  • Article 48: Reducing the term of the House of Representatives from six to five years.
  • Article 49: Reducing the term of the Speaker of the House of Representatives from six to five years
  • Article 50: Reducing the term of the President from six to five years
  • Article 83: Change the date of general elections from the second Tuesday in October to the second Tuesday in November to avoid the rainy season
  • Article 83: Decrease the time the Elections Commission has to investigate complaints from thirty to fifteen days[7]

Results

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Partial results from a third of country's regions showed that the amendments on reducing the term of presidency and allowing dual citizenship won a majority of votes. According to the National Election Commission, voters said yes to all eight questions asked on the referendum in five of fifteen counties in the country.[8] Final results were released on 1 April 2021, with a narrow majority in favour of all eight proposals, but none meeting the two-thirds quorum required, resulting in all proposals being rejected.[9]

Question For Against Invalid/
blank 		Total
votes 		Registered
voters 		Turnout Result
Votes % Votes %
Citizenship 202,017 51.43 190,814 48.57 437,170 830,001 2,476,536 33.51 Rejected (two-thirds in favour not met)
Reducing Senators' terms 227,884 54.99 186,557 45.01 415,694 830,135 33.51 Rejected (two-thirds in favour not met)
Reducing the term of the President of the Senate 221,236 54.80 182,515 45.20 426,399 830,150 33.52 Rejected (two-thirds in favour not met)
Reducing the term of the House of Representatives 220,143 55.03 179,903 44.97 430,188 830,234 33.52 Rejected (two-thirds in favour not met)
Reducing the term of the Speaker of the House of Representatives 217,325 54.39 182,245 45.61 430,683 830,253 33.52 Rejected (two-thirds in favour not met)
Reducing the term of the President 237,501 54.24 200,359 45.76 391,951 829,811 33.51 Rejected (two-thirds in favour not met)
Changing the date of general elections 212,016 56.75 161,590 43.25 456,785 830,391 33.53 Rejected (two-thirds in favour not met)
Decreasing the time the Elections Commission has to investigate complaints 176,789 50.20 175,347 49.80 478,265 830,401 33.53 Rejected (two-thirds in favour not met)
Source: NEC

References

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  1. ^ PPCC to single source election materials The New Dawn, 7 June 2020
  2. ^ a b Supreme Court Dumps Referendum Archived 2020-12-05 at the Wayback Machine Daily Observer, 19 November 2020
  3. ^ Beware The Ides of December, President Weah! Archived 2020-12-07 at the Wayback Machine Daily Observer, 23 November 2020
  4. ^ Cllr. Cephus: ‘Referendum to Go-Ahead’ Archived 2020-12-09 at the Wayback Machine Daily Observer, 24 November 2020
  5. ^ CPP disappointed in Supreme Court The New Dawn, 3 December 2020
  6. ^ "Liberia referendum could pave way for contentious third term for President Weah". France 24. 2020-12-06. Retrieved 2021-04-02.
  7. ^ Liberia Official Gazette on the National Referendum - 2020 volume XIX, number 52, 8 October 2019
  8. ^ Liberians approve constitutional referendum pushed by President Weah Africa News, 17 December 2020
  9. ^ "Liberians reject Weah plan for shorter terms, dual citizenship". Yahoo! News. AFP. 1 April 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
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