Latin America: Electoral experiences in 2020-2021 By Guery Marañón Organizing elections is always a complex process that requires experience, work under pressure and preparation for possible crises. However, as covid-19 was something completely new for the world, it became difficult to control, and many electoral institutions were unable to organize elections on the scheduled date. Speaking specifically about electoral processes in Latin America since the beginning of the pandemic, around 20 elections have been organized in 13 countries. The last ones were held this year in Nicaragua (November 21), Chile (November 21) and Honduras (November 28). Elections in the region allowed countries to define their future, either by electing their authorities (with the enormous criticism that some countries such as Venezuela and Nicaragua had) or by marking structural changes (such as Chile’s plebiscite in 2020). The pandemic forced the electoral authorities to adapt the elections to COVID, a job that was not easy and had both positive and negative results. Postponed elections in 2020
6
Country
Initial Date
Chile
April 26
Bolivia
May 3
Uruguay
May 10
Dominican Republic
May 17
México
July 7
Brazil
October 4
The pandemic took everyone by surprise. The levels of contagion in Latin American countries, daily deaths and ignorance of the characteristics of COVID transmission made governments prioritize other needs of citizens, momentarily putting aside democratic procedures. In addition to social pressure to preserve health, electoral institutions had to invest more resources in the acquisition of biosafety materials for precincts and for electoral personnel. In other cases, the voting method was changed to enforce social distancing and avoid contagion. As a result, in 2020, seven Latin American countries had to change the initial dates of their elections: Chile, Bolivia, Uruguay, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Brazil. The Bolivian case should be highlighted, since it changed the date of its presidential elections on two occasions (initially on May 3, then on September 6 and finally on October 18) due to the evolution of the pandemic in that country. Insecurity in the pandemic: will I get it? The main problem when organizing an election in a pandemic was the fear of contagion. A la r m i ng numbers of the deElection Date ceased October 25 were in the news daily. October 18 Many citizens lost September 27 family and July 5 friends due to COVID. October 18 F e a r gripped November 15 ever yone,
