General elections were held in Liberia on 15 October 1985.[1] They were the first elections since the 12 April 1980 military coup that brought Samuel Doe to power.[2] During 1984, a new draft constitutional was approved in a referendum, which provided for a 58-member civilian and military Interim National Assembly, headed by Samuel Doe as president. After a ban on political parties was lifted, four parties – Doe's National Democratic Party (NDP), the Liberian Action Party, the Unity Party and the Liberia Unification Party – contested the elections.
Polling was marred by allegations of widespread fraud and rigging. Official results showed that Samuel Doe won the presidential election with 50.9% of the vote, just enough to avoid a runoff. His NDP won large majorities in both houses of the Legislature. Many independent observers believed that the Liberian Action Party's Jackson Doe, who officially finished second, was the actual winner. It was later revealed that Samuel Doe had the ballots counted in a secret location by his handpicked staff. The period after the elections saw increased human rights abuses, corruption, and ethnic tensions, ultimately leading to the start of the First Liberian Civil War in 1989 and Doe's overthrow and murder in 1990.
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