EU Election Follow-up Mission Calls for Concrete Electoral Reforms
The European Union deployed an Election Follow-up Mission (EU EFM) on 10 May 2026 to assess progress on electoral reform and the degree of implementation of the recommendations issued by the 2023 EU election observation mission (EU EOM). The mission is non-partisan, independent in its findings, and is conducted in full respect for the sovereignty of the country.
The EU EFM is led by Andreas Schieder, member of the European Parliament and former chief observer of the 2023 EU EOM. Over the past days, the mission has met with a broad range of interlocutors, including President Josef Nyuma Boakai, the Minister of Justice, the deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the President pro tempore of the Senate, the Chief Justice, the Chairman and Commissioners of the National Elections Commission (NEC), political parties, civil society organisations, the media, and the international community.
At a press conference today in Monrovia, Andreas Schieder called on Liberian institutions, in particular the Government, the Legislature and the National Elections Commission, to translate current initiatives into concrete measures and to “take, in an appropriate manner, the steps necessary to ensure the timely implementation of the recommendations ahead of the next elections, with a view to further enhancing public confidence, and in particular, to review the electoral constituency boundaries in line with the national legislation, to address existing gaps in the electoral legal framework, to ensure the timely disbursement of funds to the National Elections Commission, and adopt measures to achieve gender equality in politics”.
Andreas Schieder stated that the EU recommendations, together with those issued by other domestic and international election observation groups, are contributing to the discussions on electoral reform and serve as a reference point for stakeholders and donors engaged in strengthening Liberia’s electoral processes. “I note a strong commitment from the authorities and most notably from President Boakai to use the EU recommendations as one of the bases to improve the election process”, Schieder highlighted.
Andreas Schieder further stressed the importance of advancing reforms in other key areas addressed by the EU recommendations, including the media and social media environments and regulations, campaign finance, and the resolution of electoral disputes. He emphasised that these reforms should be pursued “in the same consultative manner that has characterised reform processes thus far in order to strengthen public confidence in, and the integrity of the 2029 elections”.
The EU EOM formulated 22 recommendations based on its observation of the 2023 elections. Among these, the mission called for an increase in the number of voter registration centres, strengthened NEC capacity to oversee and enforce campaign finance provisions, the timely publication of election-related information, enhanced training for polling staff, the harmonisation of the existing population register with a view to improving the quality of the voter register, ensuring equal opportunities for all candidates, and improving accessibility to polling stations, among other issues.
On 29 May, the EU EFM organised a roundtable where participants, including electoral authorities, legislators, civil society, and the media, discussed the progress made in implementing the recommendations and the next steps for electoral reform. In the coming weeks, the EU Election Follow-Up Mission will release a final report outlining its findings on the implementation status of the 2023 EU EOM recommendations.
The complete repository of reports and recommendations of EU election observation missions, including those of Liberia, is available at: http://database.eueom.eu.