Voters in Liberia headed to the polls Tuesday to choose the country's president, defying one candidate's call for a boycott that has sparked violent protests and inflamed divisions in the west African republic.
In contrast to Monday's chaos, Liberians in the capital city of Monrovia cast ballots Tuesday in a largely peaceful atmosphere. The runoff pits incumbent President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, one of this year's Nobel Peace Prize winners, against former Justice Minister Winston Tubman, a longtime rival who trailed in last month's first-round vote.
Though the United Nations, the Carter Center and the Economic Community for West African States praised the first round as credible, Mr. Tubman declared it fraudulent—alleging ballot-box tampering—and then announced his withdrawal from the race on Friday and urged his supporters to boycott Tuesday's vote.
On Monday, two people died in a melee between Liberian police and Mr. Tubman's supporters, who were demonstrating on the doorstep of his Congress for Democratic Change headquarters. The protestors hoped to delay the vote, and Mr. Tubman said the rally illustrated the depth of public opinion for that position.
Still, the election has gone forward. Results from Tuesday's vote are expected within the week, but Ms. Sirleaf Johnson remains heavily favored to win.
"I thank God that things are calm," said Monrovia resident Lusu Sloan, president of a market women's association, who voted around 10 a.m. and described generally weak turnout.
The response to Liberia's presidential election result will pose the latest test for African democracy. A string of elections this year—from Nigeria in the west to Uganda in the east—have devolved into violence, as candidates and their supporters differed over results. Zambia has been a notable exception in pulling off a smooth transfer of presidential power, although riots also marred the voting in the southern African country.
On Monday, U.S. President Barack Obama, in a written statement, encouraged Liberians "of all political preferences to exercise their universal right to participate in the democratic process."
"Liberia has taken important steps to consolidate its democracy since the end of its civil war," the president wrote. "Those gains must not be set back by individuals who seek to disrupt the political process."
Liberia also presents a fresh challenge for the U.N., whose peacekeepers were caught in a prolonged post-election conflict in neighboring Ivory Coast that began in late 2010. There, two rival armies—which included mercenaries from Liberia—fought a five-month civil conflict over the disputed election, leaving more than 2,000 dead.
As voting began Tuesday in Monrovia, two U.N. helicopters hung overhead and armored convoys circled the city, according to U.N. spokeswoman Yasmina Bouziane.
"We're hoping that yesterday's incident, and the unfortunate violence … is just an isolated incident," Ms. Bouziane said. "As of now, we don't see any major flash points."
Liberia is attempting to complete its second presidential election since the 2003 end to its 14-year civil war that left some 250,000 dead. Much of the killing was conducted by as many as 20,000 child soldiers, now young adults, concentrated in the crowded capital.
Mr. Tubman, the opposition politician, has been trying to dislodge an incumbent who remains popular overseas—and shared this year's Nobel Peace prize for protecting women's rights—but who is accused at home of not doing enough to create jobs for the poor.
Ms. Johnson Sirleaf, Africa's first and only female president, also faces an awkward endorsement from a third-party candidate, Sen. Prince Johnson, an ex-militia leader cited by Liberia's Truth and Reconciliation Commission for "killing, extortion, massacre, destruction of property, force recruitment, assault, abduction, torture and force labor, rape." Mr. Johnson is now demanding 30% of positions in Ms. Johnson Sirleaf's next government.
Some observers say that while a potential political alliance with a former Liberian warlord may help Ms. Johnson Sirleaf clinch the election, it removes some luster from the Nobel laureate.
"It's embarrassing for her—for her Nobel prize," said Lydie Boka, an analyst at Paris-based risk monitoring consultancy Strategico. "She's really in a bad spot at the moment."
