The Venice Commission of the Council of Europe published, on Monday 16 November, the conclusions of its 17th Conference on Electoral Administrations.
Organised online on Thursday 12 and Friday 13 November, it was devoted to the “recurrent challenges” and “good practices” of elections in Europe with – as the pandemic obliges – a focus on the organisation of elections during emergency situations.
While it is clear that the legitimacy of local and regional elected representatives is more essential than ever in these circumstances, a decision to postpone the elections may be taken in view of the risks to life, health and safety.
Postponement must be based on a legislative decision, proportionate to the situation and accompanied by an inclusive political dialogue organised as soon as possible, taking into account both the electoral process and the right of citizens to form an opinion through political campaigns, the possibilities and costs of which must be considered in a factual manner.
Postal voting as well as early voting, by mail or electronic means, are options that can be considered.
These conclusions, available on the Venice Commission’s website (https://bit.ly/3kBi155 ), also detail a series of recurrent problems related to electoral processes.
These include the misuse of administrative resources in many countries, “including those with a long-standing tradition of democratic elections”, “negative campaigning” denigrating or defaming opponents, new challenges brought about by online platforms including the problem of “doxing” (hacking non-public information and making it public) and misinformation or disinformation operations. (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)