Democracy and Elections amid the COVID 19 Pandemic: The Case of Burundi

ABSTRACT How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected democratic processes? This paper seeks to examine the dilemma of public health crises during elections. We investigate how the pandemic and government-adopted measures to curb the spread of the virus have given room for abuse of democratic processes, especially in countries holding elections. Our study focuses on the May 2020 elections in Burundi, as it was one of the first countries to hold an election at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Burundi has experienced disputes in previous elections that have resulted in violence. The May 2020 election period thus became an opportunity to examine if the country had learned from its previous challenges. However, as global attention shifted to dealing with the deadly coronavirus, not only have election cycles been affected, but leaders have also found ways to close off the process from observers and the media. This study finds that the COVID-19 pandemic affects pre-and post-election processes by undermining efforts to instill sustainable democratic practices such as elections.