Screenshot of France 24 on YouTube. On April 19, 2020, Mali held the second round of legislative elections despite uncertainties surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic as well as ongoing threats from Islamist terrorism in the country. After voting in the first round on March 29, Malians went to the polls for the second round to replace members of parliament elected in 2013. The five-year legislative term was due to end in 2018, but the elections were postponed on two separate occasions. Malian journalist Kané Illa, explains the latest postponement in a column for the Anadolu news agency: Le gouvernement a expliqué ces reports par la grève des magistrats -entamée depuis plus de deux mois en contestation des conditions financières et de travail, qui “a empêché l'acquisition par les candidats de certains documents nécessaires pour postuler aux législatives”. Dans une déclaration publiée le 26 septembre dernier, l’opposition malienne avait demandé le report des législatives, soutenant “qu’aucune élection régulière, transparente et démocratique ne peut être organisée sans la correction de graves insuffisances et la mise à plat du système de fraude organisée, qui a marqué la dernière élection présidentielle“. The government explained that these postponements were due to a strike by judges, which lasted more than two months to contest the financial and working conditions, and ‘prevented candidates from obtaining some of the necessary documents for registering in the legislative elections.’ In a statement published on September 26, 2019, the Malian opposition had called for the postponement of the legislative elections, emphasizing ‘that no legitimate, transparent and democratic election could be organized without rectifying the serious shortfalls and examining the organized fraud system, which affected the last presidential election.’ According to local observers, the elections were held within the rules while including the new public health measures concerning the COVID-19 pandemic. On April 26, 2020, there were 370 COVID-19 cases including 21 deaths. Drissa Traoré, president of the Coalition for Citizen Election Observation in Mali (COCEM), a platform of civil society organizations, stated the following during a press conference on Election Day, April 19, 2020, to provide an update on the initial observations: Les observateurs de la Cocem ont constaté le renforcement des mesures préventives contre la propagation de COVID-19 par le gouvernement telle que la mise à disposition du gel, gants et des masques pour les agents électoraux et des électeurs dans certaines localités, des unités de lavage des mains dans certains centres de vote. Cependant, des telles mesures auraient pu être effectives dans tous les centres et bureaux de vote, tel que recommandé par la Cocem dans sa déclaration préliminaire du premier tour… Et il ressort pour l’instant que 95% de bureaux de vote observés ont ouvert à l'heure (avant 8h15) et 5% des bureaux observés ont ouvert entre 8h15 et 9h30. COCEM observers have noted the strengthening of preventive measures by the government against the spread of COVID-19, including the availability of gel, gloves and masks for election officials and voters in some towns as well as hand washing units in some polling stations. However, such measures could have been in operation in all polling stations, as recommended by COCEM in its opening statement of the first round… And for now, it appears that 95 percent of the observed polling stations opened on time (before 8:15 a.m.) and 5 percent of the observed stations opened between 8:15 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. Following these elections, Ibrahima Sangho, head of the Electoral Observation Mission (EOM) held a press conference, among a synergy of other civil society organizations, on the outcomes of these elections. An article reiterates: Selon la Synergie des organisations de la société civile et de la CNDH (Commission nationale des droits de l’homme), le taux de participation global à la clôture était de 23,22%. En outre, la mission a noté que 53,87% des votants étaient des femmes. According to the [coalition] Synergy of civil society organizations and the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH), the overall participation rate was 23.22 percent by the close of the election. The mission also noted that 53.87 percent of voters were women. These civil society organizations had deployed more than 1,200 observers in the 55 electoral districts.