Only one-third of Liberians (34 per cent) say they trust the National Elections Commission (NEC) as the country approaches the general election scheduled for tomorrow, October 10, 2023, the latest Afrobarometer Survey report has indicated.
While public trust in the NEC had declined by 10 percentage points since 2018, most Liberians think their last national election was free and fair, and most express confidence in the secrecy of their ballots and the power to affect the country’s future.
It said one of the NEC’s tasks is to manage the country’s transition from manual voter registration to a biometric system.
Key findings of the report indicate that only one-third (34 per cent) of Liberians say they trust the NEC; “somewhat” or “a lot,” a decline of 10 percentage points since 2018.”
It said six in 10 citizens say elections do not work well to ensure that members of the House of Representatives (61 per cent) and senators (60 per cent) reflect the views of voters.
However, a majority (55 per cent) think elections in general (not regarding any particular election) do enable voters to remove elected officials who don’t do what the people want.
The report said more than three-fourths (78 per cent) of Liberians say political parties that lost an election should cooperate with the government, while only 22 per cent said the opposition should instead focus on holding the government accountable.
It said almost three-fourths (73 per cent) of citizens thought it was unlikely that powerful people could find out how they voted.
An overwhelming majority (85 per cent) said the 2017 elections were “completely free and fair” (59 per cent), “free and fair with minor problems” (26 per cent).
The Afrobarometer is a Pan-African, nonpartisan survey research network that provides reliable data on African experiences and evaluations of democracy, governance, and quality of life.
It said nine rounds of surveys had been completed in up to 42 countries since 1999, with Round 9 surveys (2021/2023) covering 39 countries.
The Afrobarometer conducts face-to-face interviews in the language of the respondent’s choice.
Its team in Liberia, led by the Centre for Democratic Governance, interviewed a nationally representative, random, stratified probability sample of 1,200 adult Liberians between August 15 and September 7, 2022.
A sample of this size yields country-level results with a margin of error of +/-3 percentage points at a 95 per cent confidence level.
Previous surveys were conducted in Liberia in 2008, 2012, 2015, 2018, and 2020.
A total of 46 political parties and 20 presidential candidates will compete for two million registered votes at 5,000 polling stations in 15 counties. — GNA
