Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/235583 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Series/Report no.: 
GLO Discussion Paper No. 891
Publisher: 
Global Labor Organization (GLO), Essen
Abstract: 
Elections define representative democracies, but also produce spikes in physical mobility if voters need to travel to electoral rooms. In this paper, we examine whether large-scale, in-person elections propagate the spread of COVID-19. We exploit a natural experiment from the Czech Republic which biannually renews mandates in 1/3 of Senate constituencies rotating according to the 1995 election law. We show that in the second and third weeks after the 2020 elections (held on October 9-10), new COVID-19 infections grow significantly faster in voting compared to non-voting constituencies. A temporarily-related peak in hospital admissions and essentially no changes in test positivity rates suggest that the acceleration is not merely due to increased testing. The acceleration is absent in population above 65, consistently with strategic risk-avoidance by older voters. Our results have implications for postal voting reforms or postponing of large-scale, in-person (electoral) events during viral outbreaks.
Subjects: 
election
COVID-19
natural experiment
event study
JEL: 
D70
D72
H0
H12
H75
I10
I18
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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