Global Initiative to Enfranchise People with Disabilities: Liberia - www.electionaccess.org Text Only Version
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Liberia

General Right to Vote
Constitution:
(1986)
• Article 30 discusses qualifications for membership in the Legislature.
• Article 52 discusses qualifications for eligibility to be President or Vice President.
• Article 77, section (b) states: "All elections shall be by secret ballot as may be determined by the Elections Commission, and every Liberian citizen not less than 18 years of age, shall have the right to be registered as a voter and to vote in public elections and referenda under this Constitution. The Legislature shall enact laws indicating the category of Liberians who shall not form or become members of political parties."

Exclusion Based on Mental Disability
Electoral Law:
(1996)
• Section 3.1 states: "Every citizen of Liberia who has attained the age of eighteen years or older, may register as a voter except one who has been judicially declared to be incompetent or of unsound mind…"

Voter Assistance by Other Citizens
Electoral Law:
(1996)
• Section 5.8 states: "A voter who is unlettered or physically incapacitated of voting may request an assistance of a helper to mark his ballot in the presence of an election officer. The Clerk shall enter on the register opposite the name of such assisted voter, the reason for such assistance. The one assisting the voter shall retire with him in an unoccupied compartment along with an election officer and at his direction, help him in the preparation and marking of his ballot and return the ballot paper properly folded for deposit in the official ballot box."
Poll Worker Manuals:
Staff Procedures Manual for the 1997 Special Elections: Produced by the Independent Elections Commission of Liberia
• People accompanying physically handicapped applicants the Registration Center may enter with them p 12
• All applicants must register in person p 12
• Any voter who is physically incapacitated may be assisted by someone of his or her choice to mark the ballot paper in the presence of an election officer. The assistant shall enter the voting compartment with the voter and the Election Officer and help the Voter mark the ballot paper 12

Off-Site Voting Alternatives
Electoral Law:
(1996)
• Section 5.5 discusses absentee voting. It is unclear whether this method of voting is available to the disabled.
Poll Worker Manuals:
Staff Procedures Manual for the 1997 Special Elections: Produced by the Independent Elections Commission of Liberia
• Persons in the hospital may not register during the Registration Period. The program will only register persons at Registration Centres during the Registration Period p 26

Indelible Ink Excusal
Poll Worker Manuals:
Staff Procedures Manual for the 1997 Special Elections: Produced by the Independent Elections Commission of Liberia
• Thumb ink provision for those applicants who cannot sign his/her name to the Registration Form and the Voter Registration Card p 15


 
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