How does COVID-19 affect electoral participation? evidence from the French municipal elections

Abstract

This article investigates the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak on electoral participation. We study the French municipal elections that took place at the very beginning of the ongoing pandemic and held in over 9,000 municipalities on March 15, 2020. In addition to the simple note that turnout rates decreased to a historically low level, we establish a robust relationship between the depressed turnout rate and the disease. Using various estimation strategies and employing a large number of potential confounding factors, we find that the participation rate decreases with city proximity to COVID-19 clusters. Furthermore, the proximity has conditioned impacts according to the proportion of elderly –who are the most threatened– within the city. Cities with higher population density, where the risk of infection is higher, and cities where only one list ran at the election, which dramatically reduces competitiveness, experienced differentiated effects of distance.

Building a multisystemic understanding of societal resilience to the COVID-19 pandemic

“…For example, campaigning, elections and participation in formal and informal deliberation were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in some countries. 46 Resilience came partly from a shift to online activities and socially distanced solutions such as online campaigning or postal voting, although these were sometimes tainted by logistical challenges. 47 While the COVID-19 pandemic reaffirms the importance of sound governance, some countries managed to balance crisis government capacity and legitimacy thanks to inclusive decision-making, transparent communication and a high level of citizen trust in government.…”

Menilai Kualitas Pilkada dalam Era Pandemi

“…Kondisi perkembangan COVID-19 yang masih belum terkendali di Kabupaten Indragiri Hulu menambah dinamika dalam pelaksanaan Pilkada tersebut. Melanjutkan Pilkada pada masa pandemi dikhawatirkan akan mengurangi kualitas Pemilu dan demokrasi seperti menurunnya partisipasi politik masyarakat (Fernandez-Navia et al, 2021;Noury et al, 2021). Pemilihan yang dilaksanakan pada masa pandemi berpotensi pula dalam menjadi kluster baru penyebaran COVID-19 (Afek et al, 2020;Choo & Carroll, 2020;James, 2021).…”

Electoral processes and COVID-19 infections in Japan

“…2,3 An individual's perceived risk of contracting COVID-19 and a city's proximity to a COVID-19 cluster are associated with a lower likelihood of participation in voting. 4,5 Campaign rallies and polling stations can be areas of potential infections, and voters may be reluctant to participate. There have been several reports on the association between elections and COVID-19 incidence.…”

“…2,3 An individual’s perceived risk of contracting COVID-19 and a city’s proximity to a COVID-19 cluster are associated with a lower likelihood of participation in voting. 4,5…”