General and Provincial Assembly Elections, 15 October 2019

Cyclone Idai, March 2019  

Cyclone Idai made landfall in Mozambique on 14 March 2019, specifically in the provinces of Sofala, Manica, Zambezia, and Tete. Between 16 and 17 March, more than 20 cm of rain fell in 24 hours, causing the Buzi, Pungwe, and Save Rivers to flood more than 3,000 hectares of crops and surrounding villages. Roads and other infrastructure were destroyed after storm winds of more than 220km/hour ravaged certain districts. More than 400,000 people were displaced and while degraded sanitation in permanent and makeshift settlements caused outbreaks of Cholera (MoH/WHO 2019; Rosario 2022).  

According to the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC 2023) research shows that rainfall associated with tropical cyclones has become more intense due to global warming, and. Mozambique is one of the countries most vulnerable to and affected by climate change in Africa.  

Impact on the electoral process  

Cyclone Idai struck two weeks before the start of voter registration, severely disrupting the work of voter registration brigades who generally operate from classrooms which also act as polling stations on election day. 3,200 of these classrooms were destroyed (Mozambique et al. 2019; UNICEF n.d.), as were access roads and electricity infrastructure necessary for both biometric voter registration and vote counting. Approximately 160,000 people forced to take shelter in temporary accommodation centres lost identity documents needed for voter registration purposes (Rosario 2022). 

In response the voter registration period was postponed by 15 days, although the EMBs (electoral management bodies) had requested 45 days. Many designated registration/voting centres were changed and the government called upon EMBs to step up civic education and strengthen resourcing in cyclone-affected provinces. However, due to lack of financial resources and logistical problems (transport; inability to replace registration materials in regions experiencing terrorism and subsequently affected by Cyclone Kenneth), EMBs were unable to meet their voter registration targets (Rosario 2022). 

Election authorities had failed to develop a crisis management procedure or design special voting arrangements for displaced voters. Through the support and cooperation of international organizations such as the EU and the Austrian Development Cooperation, local election authorities were able to procure tents to be used as polling stations on election day (Rosario 2022). 

Turnout in 2019 stood at approximately 51.4 per cent, whereas the voter turnout for the election in 2014 stood at approximately 49 per cent (International IDEA n.d.). 

At the time of the elections, Mozambique was also affected political and military conflict including terrorism (Rosario 2022).