At stake in this election:

• 30 seats in the Senate

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Gyude BRYANT *
• Head of Government: Head of National Transitional Government Gyude BRYANT
• Assembly: Liberia has a bicameral National Assembly consisting of the Senate with 30 seats and the House of Representatives with 64 seats.

* This is an interim position until a new president is inaugurated in January 2006 following the October 11, 2005 presidential election.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve a 6-year term.
• In the Senate, 15 members are elected by plurality vote in multi-member constituencies to serve 9-year terms and 15 members are elected by plurality vote in multi-member constituencies to serve 6-year terms*. In the House of Representatives 64 members are elected by plurality vote in single-member constituencies to serve 6-year terms.

* Two Senators are elected from each of Liberia's 15 counties. The senatorial candidates receiving the highest number of votes in each of the 15 counties shall be considered Senior Senators and shall have a term of office of 9 years. The senatorial candidates with the next highest number of votes in each county shall be considered Junior Senators and shall have a term of office of 6 years.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: Coalition for the Transformation of Liberia / COTOL
  • Leader: Harry Varney Gboto-Nambi SHERMAN
  • Seats won in last Senate election: N/A
  • Seats won in this House of Representatives election: 8
  • Seats won in last House of Representatives election: N/A
• Party: Unity Party (UP)
  • Leader: Ellen JOHNSON-SIRLEAF
  • Seats won in last Senate election: 3
  • Seats won in this House of Representatives election: 8
  • Seats won in last House of Representatives election: 7
• Party: Liberty Party (LP)
  • Leader: Charles Walker BRUMSKINE
  • Seats won in last Senate election: N/A
  • Seats won in this House of Representatives election: 9
  • Seats won in last House of Representatives election: N/A
• Party: Congress for Democratic Change (CDC)
  • Leader: George Manneh WEAH
  • Seats won in last Senate election: N/A
  • Seats won in this House of Representatives election: 15
  • Seats won in last House of Representatives election: N/A
• Party: National Patriotic Party (NPP)
  • Leader: Roland Chris Yarkpah MASSAQUOI
  • Seats won in last Senate election: 21
  • Seats won in this House of Representatives election: 4
  • Seats won in last House of Representatives election: 49
• Party: National Democratic Party of Liberia (NDPL)
  • Leader: Winston A. TUBMAN
  • Seats won in last Senate election: N/A
  • Seats won in this House of Representatives election: 1
  • Seats won in last House of Representatives election: N/A
• Party: New Deal Movement ((NDM)
  • Leader: N/A
  • Seats won in last Senate election: N/A
  • Seats won in this House of Representatives election: 3
  • Seats won in last House of Representatives election: N/A
• Independent(s): Independents
  • Leader: N/A
  • Seats won in last Senate election: 0
  • Seats won in this House of Representatives election: 7
  • Seats won in last House of Representatives election: 0

Last Legislative election:

• Elections for both the Senate and the House of Representatives were last held on July 19, 1997.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 3,482,211 (2005 est.)
• Registered Voters: 1,325,556 (2005)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 1,630,405 (2005)

·         Is Liberia a signatory to CEDAW: No

·         Has Liberia ratified CEDAW: Yes, accession (17 July 1984)

·         Gender Quota: No

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 8 (following the 2005 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 177 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Very High (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is Liberia a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)

·         Has Liberia ratified CRPD: Yes (26 July 2012)

·         Population with a disability: 490,467 (est.)