COVID-19 and Elections and Referendum in the Czech Republic: Experiences, Unresolved Questions and Propositions de lege ferenda
Abstract
The article deals with various aspects of the legal regulation of elections and referenda in the Czech Republic in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as other potential health threats and emergency situations. It is divided into two parts.
In the first part, the article deals with the interpretation of the constitutional conditions for postponing the elections, critically evaluates the case of postponement of by-elections to the Senate, draws attention to some open issues in the constitutional rules and provides an opinion on those issues. In the second part, the article evaluates both adopted and proposed changes to election rules that responded to the spread of the COVID-19 disease.
Attention is paid mainly to ad hoc laws on special voting arrangements.