By Verity News (Release)
The Organization for Women and Children (ORWOCH) has expressed grave concern regarding the proposed amendments to Section 4.5 of the New Elections Law.
While the use of the word “shall” suggests a shift toward mandatory compliance, the inclusion of “good cause” and “best efforts” clauses effectively creates an “escape hatch” for political parties to bypass gender representation requirements. Such wording is attempted to reword the ‘endeavor to ensure’ clause that has produced the same results for women in the past elections.
This is a slap in the face to women rights organizations that struggled and lobbied to change this provision.
Under the current proposal, a political party can fail to meet the 30% quota and still participate in elections by simply convincing the National Elections Commission (NEC) that they “tried their best.”
This subjective standard transforms a legal requirement into a discretionary suggestion. History has shown that without strict, objective penalties, political parties will continue to prioritize the status quo over inclusive governance.
We do not need laws that ask parties to ‘endeavor’ or ‘try’ under a different name, we need a law that says: No 30%, No Ballot. Anything less is a betrayal of the Liberian woman’s right to political participation.”
ORWOCH is calling on the Legislature to strike the “good cause” provision and replace it with a clear, administrative mandate that leaves no room for the NEC’s “sound discretion” to override gender justice.
Recommendations to the Legislature
- Remove subjective language by striking the phrases “good cause can be shown,” “best efforts,” and “sound discretion of the Commission.” These terms are legally vague and unenforceable.
- Establish objective compliance by treating the 30% threshold as a technical requirement for registration, similar to filing fees or signature requirements.
- The NEC must be legally compelled to reject any list that does not meet the numerical threshold, without exception.
- Provide a fixed, 48-hour window for parties to correct non-compliant lists, after which the party is disqualified from that specific election cycle.
To close the “comply or explain” loopholes, ORWOCH proposes the following language is proposed for Section 4.5(1) (c):
“(c) A list of candidates submitted by a political party, coalition, or alliance of political parties to the Commission for legislative elections shall have no less than thirty percent (30%) of the candidates from each gender. The Commission shall refuse to accept any list of candidates that fails to meet this minimum thirty percent (30%) requirement. No exception, waiver, or claim of ‘best efforts’ shall be entertained or granted by the Commission.
Any political party, coalition, or alliance whose list is rejected for failure to comply with this requirement shall have forty-eight (48) hours to submit a revised list that fulfills the thirty percent (30%) standard.
Failure to submit a compliant list within this timeframe shall result in the automatic disqualification of the party, coalition, or alliance from the pending election.”
