THE MOST FRAUDULENT ELECTION IN HISTORY

Did you know that in the most fraudulent election ever recorded in history, the incumbent president won in a landslide of 234,000 to 9,000 votes despite there only being 15,000 eligible voters in the country at the time?

As the Nigerian Presidential and National Assembly election which held Saturday, February 25, 2023, continue to generate mixed reactions over the Independent National Electoral Commission's (INEC) failure to upload results from the polling units (PUs) onto its iREV (INEC Result Viewing Portal) in violation of its own regulations, resulting in the rejection by major candidates who are seeking to challenge the results in the court, we bring to you the most fraudulent election in history. And if you think that the Nigerian 2023 presidential and national assembly election, which is adjudged as the most poorest, is fraught, just wait until you hear about the 1927 presidential elections in Liberia.

General elections were held in Liberia in 1927. In the presidential election, the result was a victory for Charles D. B. King of the True Whig Party, who was re-elected for a third term after defeating Thomas J. Faulkner of the People's Party. The incumbent President Charles D.B. King won in a landslide of 234,000 to 9,000 votes—despite there only being 15,000 eligible voters in the country at the time.

The elections were referred to as "the most rigged ever" by Francis Johnson-Morris, a modern head of the country's National Elections Commission, and also made it into the Guinness Book of Records as the most fraudulent election ever reported in history. Despite there being fewer than 15,000 registered voters, according to the official falsified results, King received around 240,000 votes, compared to 9,000 for Faulkner, theoretically resulting in a voter turnout that was in excess of 1,660%.

Following the election, Faulkner accused members of the True Whig Party government of using slave labor at home and selling slaves to the Spanish colony of Fernando Po, as well as involving the Army in the process. Despite the government's denials and a refusal to cooperate, the League of Nations established the "International Commission of Inquiry into the Existence of Slavery and Forced Labor in the Republic of Liberia", under the chairmanship of British jurist Cuthbert Christy, to determine the extent of the problem. U.S. president Herbert Hoover briefly suspended relations to press Monrovia into compliance.

In 1930, the committee's report was published, and although it could not substantiate charges of slavery and forced labor, it implicated government officials, including both King and vice president Allen Yancy of profiting from forced labor, which it equated to slavery.

There were also suggestions about putting Liberia into trusteeship. As a result, the House of Representatives began impeachment procedures against King, who quickly resigned. He was succeeded by Edwin Barclay. Faulkner contested the 1931 elections, but lost again.

Perhaps more interesting than the straight-up fraud perpetrated by King and his cronies is the history of the entire country of Liberia. The country is Africa’s first and oldest modern republic, having been founded by freed Black people coming from the United States in the early- to mid-1800s. Some of them were seeking a life free of prosecution, though many in the U.S. viewed this repatriation as a pragmatic way to avoid slave rebellions, which is a less rosy motivation.

As you might expect from participants in a 19th-century exercise in American colonialism, the founders of Liberia had little interest in the needs or desires of the area’s indigenous peoples. In addition to conflict with native tribes, the settlers faced harsh climates, scarce food, poor infrastructure, and high incidents of disease that gave the territory a record-breaking mortality rate.

But despite its troubles (and its ongoing corruption issues), Liberia also deserves a lot of recognition. The country gained independence a full 100 years before most of the rest of the continent, and have been electing their own leaders ever since—including the first female head of state in Africa.

Sources:

https://www.popsci.com/story/science/weirdest-thing-election-fraud-facts/

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1927_Liberian_general_election

Image: Charles D. B. King