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Indelible Ink in Elections: Mitigating Risks of COVID-19 Transmission While Maintaining Effectiveness
Many countries use indelible ink to ensure that voters cannot cast multiple ballots. Hand-sanitizing procedures, recommended to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, could also affect the ink’s effectiveness. IFES presents some factors election management bodies should consider.
News & Updates
Feature
The Legal Quagmire of Postponing or Modifying Elections
Amidst the uncertainty of COVID-19, many countries are grappling with how to modify election procedures to minimize the risk of transmission or change the system for voting completely to avoid the need for voters to go to the polls. While important and often necessary, these decisions are far from simple. IFES has compiled a list of legal elements to consider in relation to election postponements and modifications.
News & Updates
Feature
Elections and COVID-19 – What We Learned from Ebola
In an op-ed for Devex, IFES' Anthony Banbury shares lessons learned from the Ebola crisis as guidance for holding elections and averting a democracy crisis during COVID-19.
News & Updates
Feature
Emergency Powers and the COVID-19 Pandemic: Protecting Democratic Guardrails
Without a strong foundation for democratic resilience, a global health crisis can shock democratic institutions and offer a blank check to governments to use emergency powers to curtail political rights. IFES has identified four indicators that help to understand whether state actions during this time are “limited to the extent strictly required by the exigencies of the situation.”
News & Updates
Feature
Low Voter Turnouts, Fear, Disinformation and Disrupted Supply Chains: How Election Commissions Are Unprepared for COVID-19
All electoral activities planned for the near future will be affected one way or another by the COVID-19 pandemic. Election commissions need sound advice and technical assistance to navigate the complexity of each election context, coordinate with the relevant health authorities, consider all relevant public health and political factors, and make sensible decisions to safeguard voters and electoral processes.
News & Updates
Feature
Message from President and CEO Tony Banbury: IFES’ Response to Coronavirus
Read IFES President and CEO Anthony Banbury's message about the impact of the novel coronavirus crisis and how IFES is responding.
News & Updates
Feature
Ethiopia Holds Referendum to Determine Statehood for Sidama Zone
Residents of Ethiopia's Sidama Zone voted in a referendum for regional autonomy on November 20. With results demonstrating that approximately 98.5 percent voted in support of statehood, Sidama will be the first new state since the establishment of the current nine-state federation in the 1990s.
Election FAQ
Elections in Ethiopia: 2019 Sidama Referendum
Ethiopia is a federation with nine regional states that can choose their official language and have limited powers over taxation, education, health and land administration. On November 20, residents of the Sidama Zone voted to decide whether it will be transformed into a regional state. To help you understand this important electoral process, IFES provides Frequently Asked Questions on Elections in Ethiopia: 2019 Sidama Referendum.
Election FAQ
Elections in Ukraine: 2019 Early Parliamentary Elections
On July 21, citizens of Ukraine went to the polls for early parliamentary elections after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy issued a decree to dissolve the Parliament. To help you understand this important electoral process, IFES provides Frequently Asked Questions on Elections in Ukraine: 2019 Early Parliamentary Elections.