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Elections during a Pandemic Chapter 7

The conduct of COVID safe
elections for Rajya Sabha was
followed by extensive studies and
consultations on similar exercises
around the world. The present
CEC Sushil Chandra addressing
the webinar ‘Issues, Challenges and
Protocols for Conducting Elections
during COVID-19: Sharing
Country Experiences’

The Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Health health officer, EVMs/VVPAT, training and capacity building,
and Family Welfare issued guidelines from me to me on nomina on process, elec on material, distribu on and
rd
management of COVID-19. It was evident by July that the collec on of elec on material, ming of 3 randomiza on
ba le against COVID was going to be a long one. The (of polling staff), number of electors in polling sta ons,
general and bye-elec ons necessita ng mass par cipa on polling sta on arrangement, kit for polling officers, postal
and poli cal campaigning could not indefinitely wait. ballot, and campaign by poli cal par es/candidates etc.
Some democracies like South Korea, Taiwan, Mongolia,
The term of the state's 16 Legisla ve Assembly in Bihar
Australia, Dominican Republic and few others had already
conducted general elec ons during the Pandemic. was set to expire on November 29, 2020. To add to the
COVID woes, the state was reeling under the a er-effects
The Elec on Commission on July 17, 2020 invited views/ of the July floods, which had devastated at least 14
sugges ons from Na onal and State poli cal par es on districts. These districts mostly in northern Bihar
the subject. Based on the inputs received from various included Supaul, Madhepura, Vaishali, Begusarai,
poli cal par es and Chief Electoral Officers of various Ka har, Madhubani, Sitamarhi, Khagariya, Muzaffarpur,
states/UTs, a brochure tled “Broad Guidelines For Bhagalpur, East Champaran, Samas pur, Saharsa and
Conduct of General Elec ons/Bye-Elec ons During Darbhanga. On the plus side, the COVID posi vity rate
COVID-19” was issued on August 21, 2020. The guidelines had plummeted to 1.2 percent by September, 2020 -
focused on 13 core areas – general instruc ons, nodal down from 25.8 percent in July, 2020.

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