UEA pandemic elections research wins International Electoral Award
By: Communications
UEA’s Electoral Integrity Project, focused on research about how to run elections during emergency situations, has won a major international prize: the International Electoral Award.
On 15 November, at the International Centre for Parliamentary Studies Symposium and Awards Ceremony in Lisbon, the award was presented to Prof Toby S. James and Dr Holly Ann Garnett from UEA’s School of Politics, Philosophy, Language and Communication Studies (PPL), alongside Prof Alistair Clark (Newcastle University) and Erik Asplund of International IDEA.
The project was a collaboration between the Electoral Integrity Project, International IDEA, UEA, and Newcastle University. The Electoral Integrity Project produces innovative and policy-relevant research comparing elections worldwide; it is currently directed by Dr Holly Ann Garnett and Prof Toby S. James, and is housed at the Royal Military College of Canada/Queen’s University and UEA.
The award was for the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded project on the impact of Covid-19 on electoral integrity.
The team ran the project live during the pandemic, providing regular reports, blogs, research reports and country briefings to facilitate learning between countries about how to manage pandemic elections. A live-website tracker contained information about the elections held, postponed, turnout and other key information as the pandemic unfolded.
The materials were the ‘go-to’ point of information around the world as the pandemic unfolded for the news media, practitioners and decision makers. Materials were then brought together to form a consolidated book setting out the lasting lessons from the pandemic for future emergencies. The 700-page volume sets out 11 recommendations for how elections can be prepared for future emergencies, such as climate change, war and possible future pandemics and actions to protect elections.
Image: Elections during Emergencies and Crises, Lessons for Electoral Integrity from the Covid-19 Pandemic (2023) by authors Toby S. James, Alistair Clark and Erik Asplund
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