Liberia went to the polls Tuesday for a runoff election after incumbent President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf failed to win the votes needed for an outright victory last month . Johnson Sirleaf , who won the Nobel Peace Prize this year , needed 50 % to avoid a runoff in the October 11 election , but did not reach it . Polls were scheduled to close at 1 p.m. EST . She faces challenger Winston Tubman , who came second . While the U.S.-based Carter Center said the October balloting was `` peaceful , orderly , and remarkably transparent , '' opposition parties have protested the results , and claimed voting irregularities . Tubman has reportedly refused to participate in the runoff , alleging it wo n't be fair , and there have been calls to boycott the election , the United Nations has said . On Monday , members of the Tubman 's Congress for Democratic Change clashed with police in what authorities called an unauthorized protest , state-owned radio network Liberia Broadcasting System reported . At least one person was killed and several others wounded in the clashes in the capital city of Monrovia , the network reported . Both U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Security Council have called on Liberians to refrain from violence . `` Regardless of your political views , I appeal to all Liberians to say no to violence on Election Day , '' said Ellen Margrethe Loj , the U.N.Secretary-General 's special representative and head of the U.N. Mission in Liberia ( UNMIL ) . It is the second presidential election since a 14-year civil war ended in 2005 . The war devastated Liberia and left an estimated 250,000 people dead , and voters are hoping for more peaceful and prosperous days ahead . Johnson Sirleaf has said she wants to preserve the peace . `` We 've put in the fundamentals , the foundation -- the possibility to reach our accelerated growth and development , fix our infrastructure , the potential , and chances are so high , '' she said before the election . Liberia faces many challenges : up to 80 % of Liberians are unemployed and a majority live without basic necessities such as water and electricity .
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf faced challenger Winston Tubman . There had been calls to boycott the election . The United Nations called on Liberians to refrain from violence . It is the second presidential election since the end of a 14-year civil war .