The 2020 National Referendum produced large numbers of invalid ballots in most of the 15 counties. Understanding the technical and political significance of invalid votes is particularly instructive for future electoral processes, yet the reasons for this phenomenon in Liberia remain largely unclear. In that regard, the National Elections Commission (NEC), with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), undertook an analysis of invalid votes from 13 counties from 3—5 June to help clarify the causes and provide insights into invalid vote patterns.
From 3—5 June, and prior to the teams leaving for the rest of the counties, Montserrado served as a pilot for the exercise. Team members were divided into three groups: one worked in the NEC central warehouse, while the remaining teams worked at the Bensonville and Brewerville warehouses, carrying out the process simultaneously.
Such an appraisal has the potential to inform recommendations that may help to reduce invalid ballots in future elections. The appraisal is also expected to provide answers to why there were so many invalid ballots, what were the most common reasons for ballots being declared invalid, and in what areas were there more invalid ballots than others.
At the same time, the Commission used the opportunity to assess the level of women’s participation in the 2020 Special Senatorial Election (SSE) and Referendum, and catalogued and entered all assets, in particular in southeastern counties, in the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System. The ERP was implemented in 2019 to enhance transparency and accountability of NEC’s internal processes.