The global spread of COVID-19 profoundly impacted the health and welfare of citizens around the world. It also risked having a profound effect on democracy and elections.

The ESRC, in collaboration with International IDEA and the University of East Anglia, funded this project on covid and elections. It asked:

• What challenges did COVID-19 pose to the integrity of elections?

• What policies were put in place to reduce the spread COVID-19 and protect electoral integrity?

• How effective were these mechanisms in terms of their impact on i) the spread of COVID-19 and ii) electoral integrity?

• What measures should countries put in place to build resilience for electoral integrity in the future?

The project wasled by Toby James (University of East Anglia), Alistair Clark (University of Newcastle), and Erik Asplund (International IDEA).

An edited volume was published in May 2023 which drew out the lessons for protecting electoral integrity during emergencies:

James, Toby S., Alistair Clark and Erik Asplund (eds) (2023) Elections During Emergencies and Crises: Lessons for Electoral Integrity from the Covid-19 Pandemic (International IDEA: Stockholm).

It is FREE to download from the International IDEA website.

Book contents

Part 1: Introduction – how covid threatened global electoral integrity

1. Introduction, Toby S. James, Alistair Clark and Erik Asplund

2. Do elections spread covid? Alistair Clark, Toby S. James and Erik Asplund

   Part 2: Pandemic electoral practices and their effects – Cross-national analyses

3. Election postponement during the covid pandemic, Toby S. James, Alistair Clark and Erik Asplund

4. How campaigns took place during the pandemic, Erik Asplund, Alistair Clark, Toby S. James,

5. Voting during the covid-19 pandemic, Erik Asplund, Alistair Clark, Toby S. James,  

6. The effects of the covid-19 pandemic on voter turnout, Toby S. James, Erik Asplund, Alistair Clark,

7. How international electoral observation was affected by the covid-19 pandemic, Erik Asplund, Toby S. James, Alistair Clark,

8. The financial cost of elections during a pandemic, Toby S. James, Alistair Clark and Erik Asplund

   Part 3: Country Case studies

9. Argentina, María Celeste Ratto

10. Australia, Martinez i Coma

11. Brazil, Gabriela Tarouco

12. Cabo Verde, Edalina Sanches

13. Canada, Holly Ann Garnett et al.

14. Chile, Pamela Figueroa

15. Ethiopia, Zemelak Ayele

16. France, Romain Rambaud

17. Germany, Rebecca Wagner

18. Ghana, Fortune Agbele and Ghadafi Saibu

19. India (Bihar), Saket Ambarkhane

20. India (other states), Zaad Mahmood

21. Israel, Ofer Kenig

22. Jordan, Fida Nasrallah

23. Mali, Robert Gerenge

24. Myanmar, Michael Lidauer and Gilles Saphy

25. Netherlands, Leontine Loeber

26. Nigeria, Ibrahim Sani

27. Poland, Vasil Vashchanka

28. Portugal, Carla Luis

29. Russia, Iuliia Krivonosova

30. South Korea, Antonio Spinelli and Luke Butcher

31. Spain, Jordi Barrat

32. Uganda, Nic Cheeseman

33. United Kingdom, Alistair Clark and Toby S. James

34. USA, Kate Sullivan and Charles Stewart III

    Part 4: Looking Forward

35. How to strength electoral integrity for future emergencies, Toby S. James, Alistair Clark and Erik Asplund

Earlier resources from this project

COMPARATIVES Resources

Global overviews and comparative analysis

Comparative Analysis

• GLOBAL OVERVIEW:

  • ‘Global Overview’, Erik Asplund, International IDEA

• SPECIAL VOTING MECHANISMS:

  • ‘Elections and Covid-19: How special voting arrangements were expanded in 2020’, International IDEA, Erik Asplund, Lars Heuver, Fakiha Ahmed, Bor Stevense, Sulemana Umar, Toby James, Alistair Clark and Peter Wolf, 25th February 2021.

• IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGES:

  • ‘New Development: running an election in a pandemic’ Toby James, Public Money and Management.

  • Adapting elections to COVID-19: five key questions for decision makers, Toby James, International IDEA, 19th May 2020.

• POSTPONEMENT:

  • ‘When is it democratic to postpone to postpone an election? Elections during natural disasters, COVID-19 and emergency situations’ Toby James and Sead Alihodzic, Election Law Journal.

  • ‘What happens after elections are postponed? Responses to postponing elections during COVID-19 vary by regime type’, Toby S. James and Erik Asplund, International IDEA, 2 September 2020.

  • Should elections be postponed because of coronavirus, Toby James, The Conversation, 16th March

• DISENFRANCHISEMENT:

  • ‘People with COVID-19 and those self-isolating must not be denied the vote’, Erik Asplund, Bor Stevense, Toby S James, Alistair Clark, LSE Blog, 23rd October 2020

  • Elections and Covid-19: making democracy work in uncertain times, Toby James and Erik Asplund, Democratic Audit, 30th March.

• FINANCIAL COST:

  • Electoral officials need more money to run elections during Covid-19, Erik Asplund, Toby James and Alistair Clark, Democratic Audit, 14th July 2020.

• CAMPAIGNING:

  • Elections and COVID-19: How election campaigns took place in 2020, Erik Asplund Lars Heuver, Fakiha Ahmed, Bor Stevense, Sulemana Umar, Toby James and Alistair Clark, International IDEA, 2nd February 2021

• HEALTH:

  • Elections and COVID-19: Health and safety in polling stations | International IDEA, Erik Asplund Lars Heuver, Fakiha Ahmed, Bor Stevense, Sulemana Umar, Toby James and Alistair Clark, International IDEA, 5th February 2021.

• ELECTION OBSERVATION:

  • Elections and Covid-19: international electoral observation in 2020, Erik Asplund Lars Heuver, Fakiha Ahmed, Bor Stevense, Sulemana Umar, Toby James and Alistair Clark, International IDEA, 17th March 2021.

• UK ANALYSIS:

  • ‘Wales is giving 16-year-olds the vote – but they may have to wait a little longer’, Toby James, The Conversation, 15th February 2021.

  • ‘Scotland is ready to run the May elections, despite the pandemic’, Toby James, The Conversation, 15th February 2021.

  • ‘UK government has delayed elections longer than most countries – and England still isn’t ready to hold pandemic votes in May’, The Conversation, 8th January 2021.

  • ‘How will English polling stations compare to international practices, during the pandemic?’ Toby James, 9 February 2021.

DETAILED COUNTRY CASE STUDIES

Evidence to Parliaments based on the project:

• Scottish Parliament Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee Scottish General Election (Coronavirus) Bill, written evidence, November 2020.

• ‘The Work of the Electoral Commission – COVID 19’, written evidence to Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, 24 November 2020 (with Alistair Clark), 24 November 2020.

Webinars

Other research from the Electoral Management Network, outside of this project:

‘Debate: safeguarding democracy during pandemics. Social distancing, postal, or internet voting—the good, the bad or the ugly?’ Robert Krimmer, David Duenas-Cid & Iuliia Krivonosova, Public Money and Management