Human Rights Measure

The report, submitted “to the President of the republic and the National Assembly” following the 2020 Presidential and National Assembly Elections includes information regarding steps taken with respect to COVID-19 including: “special registration initiatives” such as extending operating hours at registration centers and creating “Covid19 Standard Operating Procedures.” The report also contains a section on “conducting election during the COVID 19 pandemic” which contains the following information: “[t]o mitigate possible risks clear public health measures and adequate health protection were provided at the Electoral Headquarters and all registration centres, prior to the election and at the polling stations,” “[a] high number of staff compared to previous elections was recruited and the collaboration of the various stakeholders engaged, in order to ensure not only a credible, free and fair election but equally a safe election,” “[g]reat emphasis, through education, was placed on the appropriate signage at the stations,” and “[t]he personnel reinforced the importance of sanitising and the wearing of masks at the polling stations. The significant increase in the number of staff and equipment required for conducting an election in the midst of a pandemic greatly impacted the election budget.” In addition, while there was “a lack of [election] observers . . . as a direct result of the Covid-19 pandemic and quarantine regulations coming into Seychelles,” there were “two domestic observer groups” and “local diplomatic missions” that “were accredited as observers for the 2020 elections.”