The Collaborating Political Parties (CPP, an opposition coalition, see note 1) took 6 of the 15 seats in the 30-member Senate. As a result, CPP now holds a total of 13 seats. President George Weah’s Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) came second with three seats, holding five in all. Two women were elected (see note 2).

The 2020 Senate elections were held jointly with a referendum on constitutional amendments (see note 3). Referring to a proposed amendment to shorten the presidential term from six to five years, President Weah said the shorter term was a way of putting significant pressure on leaders to work hard and quickly, and to develop the country. The CPP urged supporters to boycott the referendum.

Both the Senate elections and the referendum were initially scheduled for 13 October 2020, but were postponed until December due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent financial difficulties with organizing the polls. In all, 37.42 per cent of 2.4 million voters turned out at the polls, up from 25.22 per cent of 1.9 million voters recorded in the previous Senate elections (2014).

Note 1:
The CPP included the Unity Party (UP, led by former Vice President Joseph N. Boakai), the Liberty Party (LP, led by Senator Nyonblee Karngar-Lawrence), and the Alternative National Congress (ANC). ANC leader Alexander B. Cummings led the CPP during the 2020 elections. The three parties had won a total of seven seats in 2014 (which will be up for renewal in 2023).

Note 2:
Initially, only one woman was elected in the 2020 elections. Another woman was then declared elected after winning legal challenges. She was sworn into the Senate on 22 April 2021, thereby bringing the total number of women to 2 out of 30 senators.

Note 3:
Citizens were asked to vote separately on each of eight amendments. The proposed amendments included: reducing the term of the Senate from nine to seven years, the House term from six to five years, and the President’s and Vice President’s terms from six to five years; and changing the general election date from the second Tuesday in October to the second Tuesday in November. On 1 April 2021, the chairperson of the National Elections Commission announced that none of the eight proposals had received the requisite support level of two thirds of the valid votes cast.