New development: Running elections during a pandemic

James, Toby S. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5826-5461 (2021) New development: Running elections during a pandemic. Public Money & Management, 41 (1). pp. 65-68. ISSN 0954-0962

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Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic posed a profound challenge for the delivery of elections worldwide. Elections are indispensable for democracy, but the high volume of human interactions within the electoral process risked spreading the virus. Electoral officials therefore found themselves planning or managing an election during an emergency situation, often for the first time. This article argues that there are several major organizational ‘elephant traps’ that polities will need to side-step during pandemics in order to safely protect the healthy running of elections. IMPACT: Elections often take place in during emergency situations such as pandemics, floods, earthquakes and hurricanes. In order to secure electoral integrity, this article encourages governments, legislators and electoral management bodies to: build political consensuses, consider the impact on the whole electoral cycle, include a wide range of stakeholders in meetings, invest in sufficient resources, undertake risk assessments and avoid late major changes to electoral law.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: covid-19,democracy,electoral integrity,electoral management,emergencies,natural disasters,public services,business, management and accounting(all),sociology and political science,public administration,sdg 3 - good health and well-being ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/1400
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Arts and Humanities > School of Politics, Philosophy, Language and Communication Studies
UEA Research Groups: Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Research Groups > Policy & Politics
Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Research Groups > Political, Social and International Studies
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Depositing User: LivePure Connector
Date Deposited: 18 Jun 2020 00:02
Last Modified: 21 Jul 2023 09:55
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/75638
DOI: 10.1080/09540962.2020.1783084

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