Media and Civil Society Efforts Help Liberia Hold Free, Fair, and Peaceful Elections

In October, for just the second time since its 14 year long civil war ended, Liberians went to the polls to elect a president and national legislature.  This test was widely seen as a crucial step in sustaining democracy in a nation where fears of renewed violence have been widespread.  Following the first round of voting, international observers praised the elections as being some of the freest, fairest, and most transparent seen in Africa.  ECOWAS’s special representative to Liberia said that the event represented a “model” for elections in Africa.   IREX’s Civil Society and Media Leadership Program implemented a comprehensive elections initiative that provided support to the media, civil society, and the government to help ensure the elections were free and fair and that citizens were informed and engaged in the process.

In a country where most voters neither read nor understand Constitutional specifics and where poor roads made some areas inaccessible, the challenge for civil society activists to educate voters and promote peaceful elections was immense. IREX civil society partners organized town hall meetings, published election education materials, produced radio talk shows and cultural performances and went door to door to deliver key messages about voting and the importance of peaceful elections. An impressive 71.6% of eligible voters turned out on election day.

IREX worked with its media partners to help the Liberian media report professionally on the elections and in a manner that did not contribute to potential conflict. When tensions were rising ahead of the elections and there were fears the media might contribute to those tensions, IREX and its partners convened an emergency session, “Media Ethics and Conflict Sensitive Elections Reporting.” Nearly 150 journalists and other stakeholders attended. A six count resolution was adopted with journalists pledging their commitment to balanced, conflict sensitive elections reporting aimed at sustaining peace in Liberia. Second, IREX supported its partner, the Liberian Media Center (LMC), to engage some of the media outlets involved in the so called “media war” by launching a Media Monitoring Unit at the Elections Reporting Center, which issued a report that condemned conflict insensitive reporting in the media and called upon media houses to live up to higher standards. Following the monitoring report and the emergency session with journalists, the positive change in the media climate was palpable.

After the elections, the elections reporting website, run through the Liberia Media Center, posted vote count results submitted via SMS by reporters from approximately 60% of the country’s 4457 polling stations. The site had over three million hits in the days following the election. Because the site’s vote tally matched the National Election Commission’s, it also helped to improve the "perceived" credibility of the NEC in the minds of the public.

IREX also provided assistance to address the issue of female candidates not receiving as much media coverage as their male counterparts, and that when they did they were not treated with the same professionalism as male candidates. Therefore, IREX held a number of events and activities with media partners from dozens of media outlets to impress upon them the importance of giving female and male candidates more equitable coverage in the media (and to not take bribes for producing media stories).  IREX also equipped Liberian Women Democracy Radio (LWDR) with a mobile media platform so they could move around the country and collect stories both about female candidates and about issues in the elections that matter to women.

CSML held 40 legislative debates throughout the country that gave candidates from small parties a major platform to interface with the public.  This was a small but important step in placing candidates from smaller parties on equal footing with candidates from larger parties, and avoiding feelings of disenfranchisement.

As Liberia prepares for run-off elections on November 8, 2011, IREX is continuing its work with media and civil society based on analysis of the issues and threats to peace from the first round of voting. For example, on November 1, IREX partners, the Press Union of Liberia and the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding, hosted a symposium aimed at helping doubting or confused voters understand the entire elections process from poll site to the official announcement of results. The theme was “The Road to the Run-off: Understanding the 2011 Electoral Processes.” Its goal was to reduce confusion and distrust which are threats to peace by increasing understanding of the processes.