More than 1.79m Liberians have been registered to vote in the upcoming constitutional referendum and the general and presidential elections. The referendum aims to amend four fairly uncontroversial election-related aspects of the constitution (March 2011, The political scene). The number of registered voters represents 89% of those eligible to vote and an almost 30% increase on the 1.3m who were registered in 2005. Women make up 49% of the total, making them a key constituency, as in the 2005 elections when this factor benefited Mrs Johnson-Sirleaf, who appealed to them directly on the basis of their experience as wives and mothers. A further verification exercise has also been undertaken, as those who registered earlier were able to check their details on the provisional electoral roll published in early April.

The National Electoral Commission (NEC) has declared all existing electoral districts void in preparation for the delimitation of new ones. Before the publication of the new districts, potential legislators will only be able to register their intent to stand in a county rather than in a specific district. The NEC also announced that campaigning for the elections would start on July 5th, bowing to requests from opposition parties for more time than was granted in 2005. Campaigning for the August constitutional referendum to be held on August 23rd will start on May 5th, following the start in April of a 150-day civic education exercise to be conducted by the NEC in order to sensitise the public on the details of the referendum.