NTERNATIONAL ELECTION OBSERVATION DURING THE PANDEMIC

Morozova Oksana S.

Annotation

The article deals with international election observation in the context of a pandemic. The rapid spread of the COVID-19 virus around the world, starting in the winter of 2020, has led to the introduction of a state of emergency or quarantine measures in most countries. The pandemic raised concerns about epidemiological security during the election campaign and election day. Two-thirds of the countries where elections were scheduled postponed them to a later specific date or an indefinite period. In those States where elections were held, the participation of international electoral monitoring missions was excluded. On a limited scale, international election monitoring has resumed since June 2020. The article presents the chronology of elections during the pandemic, and shows the features of international observation during this period. The author provides an overview of documents prepared by research centers and international associations (OSCE / ODIHR, International IDEA, ANFREL, Wahlbeobachtung.org/ Election-Watch.EU, ACE Electoral Network, IFES, etc.), on organizing election campaigns and monitoring elections in the face of the continuing threat of the spread of coronavirus.

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