Page 128 - Conducting Elections during COVID-19

110 INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCES OF CONDUCTING ELECTIONS DURING COVID-19

North Macedonia

2020 Parliamentary Elections

Events leading to the Elections

Early parliamentary elections were held in the Republic of North Macedonia on 15 July 2020. They had
originally been scheduled for November 2020, but Prime Minister Zoran Zaev called early elections
after the European Council failed to come to an agreement on starting talks with North Macedonia on
joining the European Union in October 2019. The Parliament was dissolved on February 16, 2020 and
the parliamentary elections scheduled for April 12. In the meantime because of COVID-19 pandemic
crisis, the government issued decree on public health safety on March 21, 2020. This halted all
electoral processes and activities because of the COVID-19 impact.
Elections on 15th July 2020

The government adopted another Decree on June 15 to continue with the election process and
conduct of elections on July 15, 2020. Other government decrees related to health protocols were
issued to regulate the election process and provide guidance on protective health measures. As such,
various election activities were adjusted to follow the recommendations and protocols provided by
the Ministry of Health, mainly focusing on protection of the election management bodies; voting
on Election Day and by people in quarantine or self-isolation at home; the electoral campaign; and
handling election material throughout the pre-election process.
Macedonia finally conducted parliamentary elections on 15th July 2020 for returning 120 MPs (out
of total strength of 123 MPs) for four-year term. There are six electoral districts in North Macedonia,
and each electoral district elects 20 MPs. Elections are completed through a closed-list proportional
representation system. The seats in Parliament are divided according to the D’Hondt method.
Out-of-country voting was not organized for these elections because the required threshold of 6540
registered voters was not met. Therefore, there are no MPs elected by voters in the OCV from Diaspora.
Normally up to three MPs are elected by the Diaspora.
Voting was conducted by Special Electoral Boards (SEBs), comprising health workers and political
party representatives. Polling started at 7:00 a.m. and continued until 9:00 p.m.
Election Campaign

The election campaign started on June 24, 2020, and ended on July 12, as July 13 and 14 are designated
‘days of silence’ and free of campaigning. The political parties signed the Code of conduct for Fair and
Democratic Elections. The political parties also agreed to comply with and respect all COVID-19 safety
measures for campaign period as also for all stages of the election process.

Voting in Skopje, North Macedonia