VZCZCXRO0609
PP RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHMV #0833/01 3211615
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 171615Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY MONROVIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1464
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MONROVIA 000833 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR AF/W 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KDEM PHUM SOCI LI
SUBJECT: LIBERIA - SENATE BY-ELECTION RESULTS IN RUN-OFF 
 
REF: A) MONROVIA 570 B) MONROVIA 691 C) MONROVIA 776 
     D) MONROVIA 821 
 
SENSITIVE BY UNCLASSIFIED.  NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION. 
 
¶1. SUMMARY.  Voter turnout was low in the November 10 
Montserrado Senate by-election, with just 20 percent of 
voters participating.  None of the ten candidates took an 
absolute majority of votes, so the two leading candidates, 
Geraldine Doe-Sheriff of the Congress for Democratic Change 
(CDC) and Clemenceau Urey of President Sirleaf's Unity Party 
(UP) will face each other in a November 24 run-off.  The 
November 10 election in Liberia's most populous county was a 
crucial test run for the National Elections Commission (NEC) 
ahead of the 2011 general election.  Observers (including a 
number of Embassy volunteers) witnessed a number of 
procedural irregularities due to a lack of preparedness by 
the NEC and training for poll workers, but no instances of 
fraud were reported.  In a meeting with the Ambassador, NEC 
commissioners admitted to several election day shortcomings 
and outlined corrections intended to smooth procedures during 
the upcoming runoff.  There were no reports of violence, but 
UNMIL security responded to threats against the life of the 
NEC chairman.  END SUMMARY. 
 
RESULT IS RUN-OFF BETWEEN PRESIDENT'S PARTY 
AND ITS LARGEST OPPONENT 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) Liberia's National Elections Commission (NEC) 
officially released results from the November 10 Montserrado 
County Senate by-election on November 14.  Geraldine 
Doe-Sheriff of the opposition Congress for Democratic Change 
(CDC) won the highest number of more than 95,000 votes cast, 
33,874 or 35.5 percent.  Clemenceau Urey of President 
Sirleaf's Unity Party (UP) placed second with 29.7 percent or 
28,329 votes. 
 
¶3. (U) No other candidate came close to matching Urey and 
Doe-Sheriff's levels of support.  University professor Wilson 
Tarpeh of the Alliance for Peace and Democracy placed third 
with 16.3 percent (15,555) of votes counted.  Following him 
were former warlord and independent candidate Al-Haji Kromah 
with 7 percent (6,729) and Darius Dillon of the Liberty Party 
polling 5.7 percent (5,148).  None of the remaining five 
candidates who ran as independents managed to win more than 3 
percent of ballots cast. 
 
¶4. (U) Winning an absolute majority of votes is required for 
outright victory in the first round.  As no contender won 
more than 50 percent of votes cast, Liberian law requires the 
two largest vote getters, Urey and Doe-Sheriff, to face each 
other in a run-off election scheduled for November 24. 
 
¶5. (U) Most polling sites in populous Montserrado County were 
easily accessible, but voter turnout was low amidst light, 
intermittent rain showers.  Only 20 percent of about 500,000 
registered voters participated.  (NOTE.  All elections since 
2005 in Liberia have used the electoral register created in 
that year for the country's post-war general election and 
current Liberian law does not require the compilation of a 
register between general elections.  Therefore, voters who 
have relocated to Montserrado since 2005 could not 
participate.  END NOTE.) 
 
ELECTION DAY DEMONSTRATES NEC'S INEXPERIENCE 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Embassy fielded 20 teams of two to three persons to 
observe the November 10 vote.  No participant from the U.S. 
mission or any other international observation team reported 
instances of outright fraud.  However, observer and media 
reports showed a notable shortfall in the capacity of 
Liberia's NEC.  NEC Chairman James Fromayan admitted to the 
Ambassador in a November 17 meeting that poor planning was 
responsible for election day's shortcomings.  Fromayan also 
conceded that NEC poll worker training had been inadequate. 
For example, despite the presence of guidance materials which 
clearly explained poll site activities, Embassy observers 
regularly witnessed inconsistently executed procedures at 
most locations, which showed that one day of training did not 
prepare the 4,850 poll workers for election day activities. 
 
¶7. (SBU) While poll sites in the outskirts of the county 
opened on time and with few problems because of 
pre-positioned election materials and poll workers, many 
sites in central Monrovia opened two to three hours late, 
leading to restless crowds at many locations.  Fromayan 
attributed this problem to the slow delivery of materials in 
the hours before polls opened by an insufficient number of 
 
MONROVIA 00000833  002 OF 003 
 
 
large trucks that were caught in traffic and unable to easily 
navigate the city's poor streets.  The NEC is working with 
the General Services Administration to provide a larger fleet 
of small trucks to more quickly deliver materials for the 
run-off election. 
 
¶8. (SBU) The NEC's inability to fund the opening of all poll 
sites that were available during the 2005 election led to 
widespread confusion.  Voters received little advance notice 
of the closing of some 2005 polling stations.  Even though 
signs directed them to new polling locations, many voters did 
not end up at the correct site.  NEC commissioners told 
Ambassador that many poll workers did not show up for work 
and the number of poll officials present was not sufficient 
to both run polling operations and redirect voters who showed 
up at the wrong site.  The NEC plans to field more workers 
with additional training for the run-off.  This may help 
prevent visible tensions between voters and poll workers who 
were often unwilling (or unable) to re-direct voters 
according to information of the voter's registration card 
during the November 10 vote.  The aforementioned problem, 
plus instances of duplicate cards, wrong numbers written on 
cards, and some poll workers' inability to properly 
understand the registry meant that some voters were turned 
away or departed in frustration. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Pre-election accusations against the Unity Party of 
buying voter registration cards (Ref D) meant that the 
matching of voter credentials to corresponding data listed in 
the voter registry was closely scrutinized by most candidate 
and party polling observers.  While electoral rules state 
that candidate/party observers may stand within two meters of 
electoral workers, candidate/party observers were seen 
standing at various distances depending on the flexibility of 
a polling station's presiding officer.  Observer locations 
ranged from cordoned off at the far end of the room behind a 
ribbon barrier to hovering over the voter registry.  A 
dispute over positioning of candidate observers led to the 
one major disruption of the day when Liberty Party (LP) 
Chairman Israel Akinsaya was detained by police after 
ordering LP candidate observers to sit on a ballot box until 
observers were allowed to more closely monitor the voter 
registry.  Akinsaya was released a few hours later after a 
meeting with the Director of Police, where both sides agreed 
on the two-meter distance. 
 
¶10. (SBU) The Liberia National Police (LNP) maintained order 
throughout the day and were visible in heavy numbers. 
However, many were posted within polling sites near the 
registry and voter booth, though no instances of intimidation 
were reported.  NEC Chairman Fromayan repeated to the 
Ambassador his comment in the press that some poll opening 
delays were caused by LNP officers not showing up for duty. 
LNP Director Marc Amblard has denied that claim, and our 
observers saw no evidence of a lack of police presence at 
polls. 
 
COUNTING ALSO SHOWS CAPACITY PROBLEMS 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶11. (SBU) End of the day ballot counting was an open and 
transparent process witnessed by candidate and international 
observers.  However, the lack of electricity at most 
locations left poll workers dependent on low-light halogen 
lamps that were ineffective at lighting.  Ballot tallying 
began on November 11 at Monrovia City Hall and final results 
were expected by November 12.  Despite low turnout, release 
of the official results was delayed by slow and deliberative 
manual counting by NEC workers meant to ensure transparency 
of the process.  The NEC plans to add more personnel to its 
counting centers following the November 24 run-off. 
 
¶12. (SBU) No instances of violence were reported on election 
day, but the slow tallying led to an atmosphere of suspicion 
among opposition parties who accused the NEC of conspiring 
with the Executive Mansion to rig the election in favor of an 
outright victory for the UP's Urey well in advance of 
election day.  Monrovia city officials reported that a crowd 
of unruly CDC supporters attempted to enter City Hall on 
November 14 to find out why results had been delayed.  City 
officials called in UNMIL security and the crowd subsequently 
moved to the NEC's headquarters shortly thereafter following 
the official release of results.  Police and UNMIL soldiers 
have maintained a strong presence at NEC due to threats 
against the life of NEC Chairman James Fromayan. 
 
¶13. (U) COMMENT:  The NEC remains an inexperienced 
organization and this election in Liberia's most populous 
county has been both a learning experience and a critical 
test before the 2011 general elections.  However, NEC 
 
MONROVIA 00000833  003 OF 003 
 
 
officials have been receptive to recommendations from 
international and domestic groups on needed improvements and 
the U.S.-based International Foundation for Election Systems 
continues to work closely with the NEC to improve its 
capacity under a USAID-funded contact.  The most disquieting 
aspect of the November 10 election was the presence of 
enthusiastic, sometimes rowdy crowds of youths and threats 
against the NEC's chairman's life which allegedly originate 
from opposition party supporters.  This necessitates a 
visible role for the police (with UNMIL security support) in 
the run-off and a strong public message against 
election-related violence.  Party leaders have been reluctant 
to reign in their supporters, but the Ambassador intends to 
press this issue in planned meetings with the run-off 
candidates. 
 
THOMAS-GREENFIELD