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People Power
Ireland an outlier in decision to halt election observer role during Covid
Other Western European countries continued to send observers to monitor elections during the pandemic.
THE IRISH GOVERNMENT was a European outlier in its decision to completely stop sending election observers at the height of the Covid pandemic, a new investigation from Noteworthy finds.
Irish observers were not deployed over an 18-month period between March 2020 and October 2021.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) halted nomination of observers due to “particular Covid-19 risks”. These included transit through airports, extensive in-country travel and interactions with observers from a number of other countries.
According to the Department, the decision was primarily informed by the government’s Covid-19 legislation and advice on essential travel.
Now, Noteworthy can show that Ireland was alone among Western European countries in its decision not to send observers.
Election observation is a key cog in a functioning democracy, ensuring fair and transparent elections.
Irish observers are regularly sent on missions by the EU or OSCE – an international organisation focused on “peace and democracy”. Combined, they have deployed thousands of observers on hundreds of missions across the world.
- Noteworthy, the crowdfunded community-led investigative platform from The Journal, supports independent and impactful public interest journalism
So far this year, Irish observers were deployed to monitor elections in Kazakhstan, Montenegro, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Paraguay and Albania.
These range from short-term roles observing polling stations to longer-term missions to get an in-depth understanding of the political environment, meet officials and civil society groups, and coordinate observers.
The decision not to send observers during the pandemic led to multiple parliamentary questions. Several politicians raised concerns as to why Ireland was taking such a stance when other European countries continued to send observers.
As part of our PEOPLE POWER investigation, we analysed publicly available reports for all OSCE missions over this 18-month window.
This shows that 19 EU countries, as well as the UK, Switzerland and Norway, sent a combined total of over 530 observers during this period.
Observers from European countries were also sent on EU missions during this period but the EU refused to release details of their nationalities to Noteworthy.
An international outlier
We asked other countries if they examined taking similar action. Sweden told us it initially looked at the option of pausing nominations but “were convinced” there were “sufficient safety measures in place” after talks with the EU and OSCE.
We asked DFA if it held any discussions with the EU or OSCE prior to making its decision. A spokesperson said that it “remained in contact with the EU and OSCE” in relation to “their cautious return to election observation missions”.
A spokesperson for the EU said countries “set their own internal policies” during the pandemic and member states “are not required to justify their decisions”.
Norway said it undertook a security assessment on every mission during this period before deciding on deploying observers. Denmark assessed Covid risks with each deployment, with fewer observers deployed in this period.
Both the Swiss and Austrian governments told us that they carefully assessed all circumstances, including the situation in the mission countries.
Estonia did not suspend sending observers, but only deployed fully vaccinated observers. Spain let observers “decide by themselves whether they wanted or not to go on missions, making sure they were aware of all the risks”.
One experienced Irish observer told us they would have preferred the Spanish approach, frustrated by our decision, as they wanted to assist in missions during this period.
They felt a more thorough risk assessment could have been carried out, and that observers could have signed a waiver accepting personal liability for any medical complications during missions.
‘Vacating the international stage’
While the pandemic posed health risks and logistical challenges, a study from the British Academy in August 2020 outlined serious risks to the “transparency, accountability and security of electoral practices” if observers were not present.
“Given the way in which authoritarian leaders have manipulated the pandemic to consolidate their own authority, it would be a dangerous development for global democracy if international observers were to completely vacate the electoral stage,” it found.
The study said there were options available to hold elections safely under pandemic conditions, including hybrid election observation and sending limited observer teams.
This is exactly what the OSCE did. Although it initially suspended missions in March 2020, it was back up and running again by May with limited teams.
An analysis by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance found that observer teams on many missions in 2020 and 2021 were reduced in size, visited a limited number of polling stations or focused only on capital cities.
The EU also took a more measured approach, including cancelling some missions due to quarantine regulations and election postponements. It did, however, deploy observers on five missions in 2020 and 12 in 2021.
Each EU mission followed a specific safety protocol, including testing, use of facemasks, increased security and guidelines to respect pandemic rules in the election country, a spokesperson told Noteworthy.
DFA said the decision to start sending observers again in October 2021 followed “the government’s revised approach to international travel, the success of Ireland’s vaccine roll-out, and the evolution of the pandemic internationally”.
Ireland’s election monitoring resumed in November 2021, sending nine observers to oversee parliamentary elections in Kyrgyzstan as part of an OSCE team.
Is Ireland playing its part in overseas election observation?
We also find lack of transparency is harming Ireland’s election observer role
By Niall Sargent of Noteworthy
This investigation was proposed and funded by you, our readers. Noteworthy is the crowdfunded investigative journalism platform from The Journal.
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