General elections were held in Liberia on 1 May 1951,[1] the first to be held under universal suffrage; previously only male descendants of Americo-Liberians had been allowed to vote. This was the first elections in Liberia where women and the local Liberians owning property were allowed to vote based on a Constitutional Referendum in 1945–46. In the presidential election, William Tubman of the True Whig Party was the only candidate, and was re-elected unopposed.[2]
Prior to 1951, elections were held in May and ballots were counted during the Legislative meeting during November or December, with the winning President and representatives take oath during the following January. The ballot papers were burnt in the interim. A new law was implemented which scrapped this practice and retained ballot papers until all the challenging parties of the results were satisfied.[3]
Tubman was elected unopposed for a third term in succession and took oath in January 1952. William Richard Tolbert Jr., who was his running mate in the elections became the Vice-President for the first time.
Liberia portal