The referendum looks to review a few key things, like the amount of time you need to have been in Liberia before you can run for president or vice president (10 years), raising the age of supreme court judges from 70 to 75, moving the election date from the second Tuesday of October to November, and changing the presidential vote from a two round voting system to a first past the post.
To accommodate voters that are semi-literate and illiterate the referendum is using symbols to assist voters.
Now at first I found the symbols confusing. Liberians I spoke to said despite some organisations doing civic education on the symbols – it will not make much of a difference. Political parties are telling people to vote either all yes, or all no. But the impact of the decisions, particularly the question of residency, could have destabilising effects. Candidates have already begun campaigning for the elections. If they do not meet the residency requirements, their investment will be for nought.
Political parties, instead of actively engaging young people and community members in the political system, have produced their power base through reliance on what they can provide to their specific power group. Some NGOs in Liberia, such as International Alert, are concerned that election outcomes could result in post-referendum and/or post-election violence. They are working to counter this through engaging youth leaders (approximately 60% of Liberia’s population is under 30), but the onus in turn is on the youth leaders to engage a wider base of youth so that more understand what the referendum and the elections actually mean.
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