Elections during pandemic COVID-19

In complex times, as the ones we are currently experiencing across the globe, difficult decisions need to be taken. One of those decisions is what to do with the democratic process. According to the Democracy Index of The Economist, 76 countries in the world are democracies, either full or flawed. Therefore, this question is rising strongly in at least 76 governments, which have to decide whether postponing or celebrating elections under extraordinary circumstances.

An extensive publication by the Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) titled “COVID-19 and democracy” analyses decisions and implications on holding elections during the pandemic. They count 18 countries and territories that “have decided to hold national or subnational elections as originally planned”, and 50 that “decided to postpone” them (IDEA, 2020).

^{Countries with postponed elections (in blue) as a result of COVID-19. (Map generated using www.amcharts.com/visited_countries)}

Among the ones that held elections in March or April, the experts of IDEA mention countries such as France, Germany, Switzerland, Australia or Israel. Some of these, like the case of France, started with a standard first round of local elections the 15^th of March to end up postponing the second round indefinitely until future is clearer. Some others, like the case of Germany or Switzerland, turned their second round elections into postal voting only. This way, they assured no transmission risk was transferred to voters as it could have happened in the polling stations.

This behaviour will become a trend in the coming months as Mali (parliamentary elections, second round), Poland (presidential elections which will be held by postal voting only), Tasmania, Australia (legislative council elections), Iceland (presidential election), Mongolia (parliamentary elections), New Zealand (General election and referendums), Lithuania (Parliamentary elections) are keeping the dates originally scheduled despite concerns related to COVID-19. In the United States (U.S.), several primary elections will be held in April and May through postal voting only, and an eye should be kept on the U.S. Presidential Election still on schedule for November.

^{Countries that have held elections amid COVID-19 (in blue). Map generated using www.amcharts.com/visited_countries}

Different experts have been vocal about the fact that “going ahead with an election and delaying an election both come with risks -- not just to public health, but to democracy” (Hollingsworth and Seo, 2020).

Toby James, a professor of politics and public policy at the University of East Anglia, declared that “intuitively, we think postponing an election sounds anti-democratic, […] but actually democracy in some ways could be undermined by holding an election in these times". He also mentions that we cannot forget that elections take years to be planned, from logistics to technology and security of the ballots.

On the other hand, “elections are necessary to keep the public's trust, and to maintain the legitimacy of lawmaking” (Hollingsworth and Seo, 2020). For instance, in New South Wales, Australia, local government postponed local elections for a year, meaning politicians will stay in power for over 12 months more than they were supposed to. Sri Lanka technically has no parliament right now. Elections were called for the 25^th of April. Though, cancellation on those elections has not come yet with a new date. They fell in a legal vacuum still to be solved.

However, there is always two ways of looking at things. While most of the states globally decided to postpone elections, South Korea decided to be an outlier.

South Korea faced the highest peak of the pandemic already during the month of February. In addition, their numbers did not grow very fast and they managed to keep the infection curve quite low (comparing to other countries like Italy, Spain or the U.S.). These preconditions together with the fact that the country has never postponed an election (Aljazeera, 2020), made the Koreans maintain the parliamentary voting and they applied several measures to guarantee its greater success.

Already since 2009, elections in South Korea allow people living overseas to vote from their residing countries in the previous days of the election. In 2020 that period lasted for six days starting 30^th of March. For the first time in a national election, the National Election Commission also allowed early votes to be cast at polling stations in South Korea without notice (Lee, 2016), with the aim of avoiding crowds on Election Day (Wednesday 15^th of April). In 2020, turnout from early voters sky rocketed to 26,7% of registered voters, more than 11 million people (Hollingsworth and Seo, 2020).

Another measure the government implemented was temperature checks at the doors of every polling station, about 14.000 in the whole country (Aljazeera, 2020). Both early voters and those casting their vote on Wednesday 15^th were directed to “standard” booths if their temperature was lower than 37,5 degrees Celsius or to “special” booths in the contrary. Just after the temperature check, voters were also handed masks and gloves. All polling booths were regularly disinfected with the help of more than 20.000 extra workers hired to cope with the special procedures.

People in self-quarantine “ballooned after the country started enforcing two-week quarantines on all arrivals from overseas on 1st of April. Officials texted eligible voters in self-quarantine before the vote and about 13.000 affirmed they wanted to participate” (NBC, 2020). Special allowances were applied so they could leave their homes from 5:20 p.m. to 7 p.m. to cast their ballots from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. once the polling booths were closed to the general public. After each vote, workers fully dressed in protective suits disinfected the booths.

In addition, to guarantee the democratic rights of every citizen, several special polling stations were set in different parts of the bigger cities and mail voting was highly encouraged for hospitalized patients by means of requesting it in late March. Also, the country’s existing law allowing people with disabilities or those residing in hospitals, nursing homes, and detention centres, to vote outside of a polling station, was extended by the Electoral Commission to people tested positive for COVID-19 (Quartz, 2020).

Thanks to all these efforts, and probably the democratic soul of the Koreans, the virus has failed to deter voters (The Guardian, 2020). The ruling Democratic Party of Korea and the parties close to its political standings won 180 places in the 300-seat National Assembly. Voter turnout reached 66% being the highest in 28 years. Political analysts suggest that ruling coalition in South Korea is “signalling to global leaders that a strong pandemic response can win votes” (Lee and Kong, 2020). Even the U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo declared that South Korean “dedication to democratic values in the face of a global pandemic is a hallmark of a truly free, open, and transparent society -- qualities that are necessary in facing the current crisis”.

Nonetheless, there are always examples showing different results. The electoral commission in Australia maintained the local body elections in the state of Queensland, as elections are “an essential service”. In the same way the Koreans did, the government took strong precautions disinfecting polling stations and providing masks and gloves. People in isolation for COVID-19 could vote by telephone and they also opened an early voting period to reduce crowds on Election Day. Yet, the outcome was quite opposed to the one in South Korea. Even though voting is mandatory in Australia, and not complying could take fines higher than 100 Australian dollars, turnout was around 75%, 8 points lower than last election (Hollingsworth and Seo, 2020). As the electoral law expert from the University of Queensland Graeme Orr said, "you don't know how many people would have liked to have voted, but felt too concerned".

One of the risks of holding elections under these extraordinary circumstances is exactly this one. The phenomenon was repeated in the first round of French local elections in mid-March and in the parliamentary elections celebrated in Mali by the end of the same month (Hollingsworth and Seo, 2020).

In conclusion, democracy and elections are obviously linked together and both must be preserved from any abnormality. Nevertheless, a pandemic such devastating as the COVID-19 has to be evaluated with extreme careful. Each country has each own idiosyncrasy and measures will have to adapt to the particular environments. A strong democracy needs elections to renew the mandate of the citizenship, but there will not be a strong citizenship if health and safety are not guaranteed.

Citations:

Julia Hollingsworth and Yoonjung Seo, CNN. 2020. South Korea is holding an election during the coronavirus crisis. Other countries are postponing theirs. - CNN. [ONLINE] Available at: https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/13/asia/elections-coronavirus-pandemic-intl-hnk/index.html.

IDEA. 2020. Global overview of COVID-19: Impact on elections | International IDEA. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.idea.int/news-media/multimedia-reports/global-overview-covid-19-impact-elections#ELECTIONS%20HELD%20AMID%20COVID-19.

South Korea holds parliamentary polls amid coronavirus pandemic | South Korea News | Al Jazeera. 2020. South Korea holds parliamentary polls amid coronavirus pandemic | South Korea News | Al Jazeera. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/04/south-korea-holds-parliamentary-polls-coronavirus-pandemic-200415005337520.html. 

 Lee, Rachel (8 April 2016). "Early voting begins for general election". The Korea Times.

NBC News. 2020. Here's how millions voted in S. Korea amid coronavirus. Could the U.S.?. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/here-s-how-millions-voted-s-korea-amid-coronavirus-could-n1184251.

Quartz. 2020. South Korea coronavirus patients to vote from home and hospitals — Quartz. [ONLINE] Available at: https://qz.com/1815783/south-korea-coronavirus-patients-to-vote-from-home-and-hospitals/.

The Guardian. 2020. South Korea votes in first national election of coronavirus era | World news | The Guardian. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/14/south-korea-votes-in-first-national-election-of-coronavirus-era.

Jihye Lee and Kanga Kong, 2020. Bloomberg - South Korean Leader Wins Big in Election During Pandemic. Bloomberg. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-14/south-korea-s-virus-election-may-provide-model-for-other-leaders.