INFOGRAPHICS. India, United States, European Union… Visualize the record number of voters called to the polls in 2024 around the world

India, United States, Europe, Russia, Indonesia… More than half of the planet’s population lives in a country that is organizing a national election this year.

An extraordinary year. Like the Indian legislative elections, which began on Friday April 19 and which must last until June 1, with nearly a billion voters called to the polls, 2024 looks like a long succession of major elections to worldwide. India thus follows in the footsteps of 29 other countries in which elections have already taken place at the national level since the start of the year. This list must be completed, by December 31, by 58 additional countries, according to a count carried out by franceinfo.

In total, residents of 88 different countries should have been called to vote at least once a year by December 31, counting only those affected by elections held simultaneously across their entire territory (which may be local elections). Together, these states are home to more than half of the world’s population. Such a conjunction of elections is unprecedented since the creation of universal suffrage in 1792, according to calculations carried out by the British weekly The Economist.

The map below shows the countries where elections are due to be held this year. They are colored according to their score in the democracy index published annually by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). Since 2006, this research group (linked to the media of the same name) has established an annual ranking in which the political system of each state is rated between 0 and 10. At 4 or less, the regimes are judged authoritarian. Above 6, they are democratic (although in a way “imperfect” below 8). Between the two, they are considered “hybrids”.

If this year is exceptional, it is because the inhabitants of eight of the 10 most populous countries in the world are called to vote. Taken together, the states affected by elections this year total 4.1 billion inhabitants, or 52.9% of the world population, according to a count based on the latest estimates from the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the UN.

India is, by far, the country in which the greatest number of voters are mobilized. Nearly a billion Indians are expected to participate in the legislative elections. The vote should seal the fate of the current Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, much criticized for his autocratic excesses. His party, the BJP, is favorite in the polls. A victory would allow him to run for a third term. For some observers, this year’s legislative elections raise the question of the future of Indian democracy, points out France 24.

Eyes turned towards the United States

The year 2024 is also rich in elections in Western countries. In Europe, citizens of the 27 member states of the European Union are called upon to renew the European Parliament from June 6 to 9. But the most anticipated election will take place across the Atlantic. In November, Americans will have to choose between the current Democratic President, Joe Biden, and his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump, who are both seeking a second term in the White House.

Indonesia, the fourth most populous country in the world, elected former general Prabowo Subianto as its leader last February, with 58.59% of the vote. Pakistanis were also called to the polls in February. But in this army-held country, elections were marred by violence and the imprisonment of former Prime Minister Imran Khan. In June, it will be Mexico’s turn with presidential, legislative and municipal elections organized simultaneously. The Brazilian municipal elections are scheduled for October.

But this profusion of elections does not necessarily rhyme with democracy. According to the nomenclature of The Economist, of the 88 countries whose population is called to the polls in 2024, 51 are democratic, 17 are authoritarian and 11 are considered hybrid (9 countries have no rating). At the bottom of the ranking, we find Bashar Al-Assad’s Syria, with a score of 1.43/10. This country, which has been in the grip of a civil war for 13 years, must renew its Parliament this year. But no date has yet been announced for the vote.

Several votes postponed

In this type of regime, elections are most often without issues and devoid of real opposition. They are marked by strong scores, like the 88.5% of votes collected by Vladimir Putin in March for his re-election as head of Russia. In Iran, a country rated 1.96/10 by the EIU, only 41% of voters participated in the legislative elections held in March, the lowest rate since the establishment of the Islamic Republic.

The already exceptional list of countries organizing elections in 2024 could even have been longer. Several elections planned for this year have in fact been canceled or postponed to indefinite dates. This is the case, for example, of the presidential election in Mali, which was scheduled for February. In September 2023, the ruling military junta announced “a slight postponement for technical reasons”. Seven months later, the new election date has still not been revealed.

Among the missed events of 2024 is also the presidential election in Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelensky’s mandate should normally have ended this year, five years after his election in 2019. But the Ukrainian president has closed the door to any vote while his country is fighting an offensive by Russia. “Now is not the time for elections”he decided in November.