Monthly Archives: April 2020

Elections During the Covid-19 Pandemic?

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Partyforumseasia:  Korea has done it. Other elections in Southeast Asia are pending. A recommended paper by International IDEA in Stockholm.
MANAGING ELECTIONS UNDER THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA’S CRUCIAL TEST
Technical Paper 2/2020   Available in English and Bahasa Indonesia
For free download Click here:

CONTENTS

1. A national test for public confidence
2. A test run for managing elections under a pandemic
3. Extraordinary measures for extraordinary circumstances
4. How the 2020 National Assembly elections unfolded
5. What can be learned from this experience?
6. Every context is unique
Useful links

For the practical safety arrangements see:  Wikipedia
“Special arrangements were required to ensure social distancing during the election and prevent further infection. Voters were required to wear face masks and stay at least 1 metre (3 ft) apart when queueing or casting their votes.[25][26] Before entering the polling station, each voter was checked for fever using a thermometer, required to use hand sanitiser, and issued with disposable plastic gloves. Any voter with a body temperature greater than 37.5 °C (99.5 °F) was taken to a segregated polling booth, which was disinfected after each use.[25][17] The thousands of voters who had been placed in self isolation due to potential infections were allowed to vote, but only after the polling stations had been closed to all other voters, and provided they were asymptomatic.[26][25] About 26% of votes were cast in advance, either by post or in special quarantine polling stations which operated on 10 & 11 April.[17]

Before the outbreak of the pandemic, the Democratic Party had been expected to struggle in the election: opinion polls in 2019 had predicted it would win 37-41% of the constituency votes. The government’s response to the outbreak was praised by the World Health Organisation and received widespread support in South Korea. The President of South Korea, Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party, was not up for re-election, but his response to the pandemic was popular and benefited his party in the legislative election.[25]