Mali holds elections despite COVID-19 pandemic and terrorist threats

On April 19, 2020, Mali held the second round of legislative elections despite uncertainties surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic as well as ongoing threats from Islamist terrorism in the country.

After voting in the first round on March 29, Malians went to the polls for the second round to replace members of parliament elected in 2013. The five-year legislative term was due to end in 2018, but the elections were postponed on two separate occasions.

Malian journalist Kané Illa, explains the latest postponement in a column for the Anadolu news agency:

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The government explained that these postponements were due to a strike by judges, which lasted more than two months to contest the financial and working conditions, and ‘prevented candidates from obtaining some of the necessary documents for registering in the legislative elections.’

In a statement published on September 26, 2019, the Malian opposition had called for the postponement of the legislative elections, emphasizing ‘that no legitimate, transparent and democratic election could be organized without rectifying the serious shortfalls and examining the organized fraud system, which affected the last presidential election.’

According to local observers, the elections were held within the rules while including the new public health measures concerning the COVID-19 pandemic.

On April 26, 2020, there were 370 COVID-19 cases including 21 deaths.

Drissa Traoré, president of the Coalition for Citizen Election Observation in Mali (COCEM), a platform of civil society organizations, stated the following during a press conference on Election Day, April 19, 2020, to provide an update on the initial observations:

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COCEM observers have noted the strengthening of preventive measures by the government against the spread of COVID-19, including the availability of gel, gloves and masks for election officials and voters in some towns as well as hand washing units in some polling stations. However, such measures could have been in operation in all polling stations, as recommended by COCEM in its opening statement of the first round…

And for now, it appears that 95 percent of the observed polling stations opened on time (before 8:15 a.m.) and 5 percent of the observed stations opened between 8:15 a.m. and 9:30 a.m.

Following these elections, Ibrahima Sangho, head of the Electoral Observation Mission (EOM) held a press conference, among a synergy of other civil society organizations, on the outcomes of these elections.