COVID-19 AND ELECTIONS IN NORTH MACEDONIA

Abstract

When COVID-19 pandemic was announced in March 2020, North Macedonia was in the middle of the electoral process, with a dissolved Parliament and a few days before the start of the electoral campaign. The elections were postponed because the threats of the virus were unpredictable and the strategy to handle it was unknown. Instead of April 2020, the elections were held in July 2020. The changes of the Electoral Code were adopted in order to introduce procedures for voting that would be safe for voters and electoral boards. Also changes of the rules for electoral campaign were made in order to adapt the forms of campaigning to the “new COVID-19 reality”. This article analyzes the effects of Covid-19 on the parliamentary elections in North Macedonia in 2020, focusing on the changes on the electoral rules and the electoral campaigning because of COVID-19, as well as the influence of COVID-19 on the turnout of voters. The context of the postponement of the elections, institutional setting and legal solutions are analyzed in the first part of the article. The changes of the rules regarding campaigning and adaptation of political actors to new rules are analyzed in the second part of the article. The third part focuses on the changes of voting procedures and adaptation of electoral management bodies. The last part of the article points to the changes of other rules, mostly on financing and misuse of state resources.