At least 26 elections and referendums have been postponed, either fully or in part, by natural disasters between 2006 and 2025, according to a report by Stockholm-based democracy and electoral assistance institute International IDEA, which outlined a growing threat to democracy.
As human-driven climate change is raising global temperatures and worsening extreme weather, disruptions have been caused by floods, hurricanes, heat waves, and landslides.
In 2024 alone, extreme weather disrupted 23 elections in 18 countries, said the report, titled “Managing Natural Hazards and Climate Risks in Elections.”
“From hurricanes and floods to wildfires and heat waves, these events are damaging infrastructure, displacing voters, and forcing last-minute changes to electoral processes,” International IDEA said in a statement.
The report detailed the effects of Hurricane “Sandy” on the 2012 US federal election, a 2023 earthquake on Turkiye’s presidential and parliamentary elections, an intense heat wave on the 2025 Philippine national and local elections, floods and landslides on Bosnia’s 2024 local elections, and cyclones on the 2019 elections in Mozambique.
Professor Sarah Birch of King’s College London said the study highlighted the importance of timing elections, saying electoral management bodies need to consider alterations to election timelines to reduce the likelihood of disruptions.
Its authors called on countries to consider including electoral processes in their national climate adaptation plans and disaster risk reduction strategies.
In a country where leaders are already planning to postpone the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections for a second consecutive year, citing the global fuel crisis, it might take some convincing to have them commit to protecting electoral processes from postponements. But if they are willing, a review of the local and national elections that are traditionally scheduled during May, which is among the hottest months of the year, might be a necessary measure to protect democracy, as the planet continues to warm up.
Hopefully our leaders put as much value on protecting the electoral process, which is the lifeblood of any working democracy, as those in International IDEA.*
