House of Representatives of Liberia

House of Representatives of Liberia
Type
Type	Lower house of the Legislature of Liberia
Leadership
Speaker of the House	Alex Tyler, COTOL
Structure
Seats	65
Political groups	Democratic Change (16) Unity (9) COTOL (8) Liberty (8) Peace and Democracy (5) National Patriotic (4) New Deal (3) All Liberia (2) National Democratic (1) National Reformation (1) United Democratic (1) Independent (7)
Elections
Voting system	Two-round system
Last election	11 October 2005
Meeting place
Capitol Building, Monrovia
Website
http://www.house.gov.lr/

The House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the bicameral Liberian Legislature. Legislative elections took place on 11 October 2005, and the elected members took office in January 2006.

Candidate eligibility

Citizens of Liberia who have attained the age of 25 years are eligible to contest elections and become members of the House of Representatives.

Electoral system

Under the 1986 Constitution, Liberian elections utilize a two-round system, whereby if no single candidate gains a majority of votes in the initial election, a run-off election is held between the two candidates with the highest number of votes. In the event of a vacancy, a by-election is held employing the two-round system, the winner of which serves the remainder of their predecessor's unexpired term. Each representative is elected to a six-year term with no term limits.

During the 2005 general elections, the first-past-the-post method was used for all legislative elections as a cost-saving measure. In subsequent by-elections, the two-round system has been used.

County representation

The 64 House seats are distributed among Liberia's fifteen counties based on its total number of registered voters. Each county is guaranteed by law to have at least two seats. The current seat distribution among the counties is as follows:

Bomi - 3 Bong - 6 Gbarpolu - 3 Grand Bassa - 4 Grand Cape Mount - 3

Grand Gedeh - 3 Grand Kru - 2 Lofa - 4 Margibi - 4 Maryland - 3

Montserrado - 14 Nimba - 7 River Cess - 2 River Gee - 3 Sinoe - 3

List of Representatives

County/District	Name	Party	Year elected
Bomi 1	J. Alex Tyler	COTOL	2005
Bomi 2	Haja F. Siryon	NDPL	2005
Bomi 3	Tarnue H. Cooper	CDC	2005
Bong 1	Corpu G. Barclay	UP	2005
Bong 2	Adam B. Corneh	NPP	2005
Bong 3	G. Samuel Bondo	LP	2005
Bong 4	George S. Mulbah	NPP	2005
Bong 5	Togbah J. Mulbah	CDC	2005
Bong 6	Edwin T. Juah	NDM	2005
Gbarpolu 1	Gbondojever S. Quiah	NRP	2005
Gbarpolu 2	Armah Sarnor	LP	2005
Gbarpolu 3	Dickson Temo Yarsiah	UP	2005
Grand Bassa 1	Samuel D. Page, Sr.	LP	2005
Grand Bassa 2	Vinicius S. Hodges	LP	2005
Grand Bassa 3	Jeh B. Browne	LP	2007
Grand Bassa 4	Gabriel B. Smith	LP	2005
Grand Cape Mount 1	James A. Benson	COTOL	2005
Grand Cape Mount 2	Matthew V. Z. Darblo	COTOL	2005
Grand Cape Mount 3	Mohammed A. Ware	COTOL	2005
Grand Gedeh 1	Rufus W. Gbieor	NDM	2005
Grand Gedeh 2	Zoe E. Pennue	Ind.	2005
Grand Gedeh 3	Kai G. Farley	CDC	2005
Grand Kru 1	Gbenimah B. Slopadoe	APD	2005
Grand Kru 2	George W. Blamoh	COTOL	2005
Lofa 1	Eugene F. Kparkar	LP	2005
Lofa 2	Vaforay A. M. Kamara	ALCOP	2005
Lofa 3	Malian K. Jallabah	ALCOP	2005
Lofa 4	Moses Y. Kollie	COTOL	2005
Margibi 1	Emmanuel J. Nuquay	Ind.	2005
Margibi 2	Kollie S. Jallah	CDC	2006
Margibi 3	Saah R. Gbollie	NPP	2005
Margibi 4	Ballah G. Zayzay	UP	2008
Maryland 1	David G. Saydee	APD	2005
Maryland 2	Bhofai Chambers	UP	2005
Maryland 3	James P. Biney	NPP	2005
Montserrado 1	Alomiza M. Ennos	CDC	2005
Montserrado 2	Rufus D. Neufville	CDC	2005
Montserrado 3	Kettehkumuehn E. Murray	CDC	2005
Montserrado 4	Dusty L. Wolokolie	UP	2005
Montserrado 5	Edwin Snowe	Ind.	2005
Montserrado 6	Kuku Y. Dorbor	LP	2005
Montserrado 7	Thomas P. Fallah	CDC	2005
Montserrado 8	Dave Koomey	CDC	2005
Montserrado 9	Moses S. Tandanpolie	CDC	2005
Montserrado 10	Regina S. Teah	CDC	2005
Montserrado 11	Elmond T. Barclay	CDC	2005
Montserrado 12	Edward S. Forh	CDC	2005
Montserrado 13	Victoria Lynch	CDC	2005
Montserrado 14	Richard I. Holder	Ind.	2005
Nimba 1	Francis L. Karway	UP	2005
Nimba 2	Martin M. Farngalo	COTOL	2005
Nimba 3	Worlea-Saywah Dunah	NDM	2005
Nimba 4	Nohn R. Kidau	COTOL	2005
Nimba 5	Jackson S. Flindor	CDC	2005
Nimba 6	Evans V. Koah	UP	2007
Nimba 7	Edwin P. Gaye	Ind.	2005
River Cess 1	Elizabeth P. Williams	UP	2006
River Cess 2	Jerry B. Masseh	UP	2005
River Gee 1	Charles K. Bardyl	CDC	2005
River Gee 2	Elijah F. Seah	APD	2005
River Gee 3	Christian S. Chea	UP	2010
Sinoe 1	Nelson W. Barh	UDA	2005
Sinoe 2	James T. Davies	APD	2005
Sinoe 3	Jefferson S. Kanmoh	APD	2005

2005 election results

More info: Liberia elections, 2005

Leadership structure

A Speaker, who is elected by fellow House members, is the body's presiding officer. He is assisted by a Deputy Speaker and other officers whose purpose is to ensure that the House functions properly. On 13 January 2006, 63 out of 64 House members met to elect their leaders. The results are as follows:

Speaker of the House
Results	Political Affiliation	Number of Votes
Edwin Snowe	Independent	48
Dusty Wolokollie	Unity Party	13
Abstentions		2
Total		63

Deputy Speaker of the House
Results	Political Affiliation	Number of Votes
Tokpah John Mulbah	Congress for Democratic Change	38
Others/Abstentions		25
Total		63

The Speaker, Deputy Speaker, and other officers may be removed from office by resolution of a two-thirds majority of House members.

Snowe resigned in February 2007, and on April 6, 2007 Alex Tyler was elected Speaker, receiving 32 votes against 27 votes for Edward Forh.

See also

• Liberia
• Senate of Liberia
• Legislature of Liberia
• List of Speakers of the House of Representatives of Liberia
• National Transitional Legislative Assembly of Liberia - the country's unicameral legislative body during the transition period (October 2003-January 2006)
• Legislative Branch
• List of national legislatures