We’re halfway through the “biggest election year in history” - how are we doing?

In January’s edition, we covered how 2024 stood out as a year filled with elections across the world. Today, we look at how the year has been so far and what’s still to come.

How it’s been going

Mexico elected its first female president, Claudia Sheinbaum, in a contest where the top two candidates were women. A scientist by training, Sheinbaum served as the mayor of Mexico City from 2018 to 2023 and is seen as the spiritual successor to current president Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who could not run for another term.?

In South Africa, the ruling African National Congress party lost its parliamentary majority for the first time since the end of apartheid in 1994. The next government will be a coalition government made up of multiple parties, also a first for the country.?

Elections were held for the European Union’s European Parliament, a contest featuring 27 countries and 350 million voters, in early June. Though the results varied across member countries, right-leaning parties generally fared better than their centrist and left-leaning counterparts. The result also means that the current President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, being a member of the center-right European People’s Party, will likely secure another term in office.

Often referred to as the world’s largest democracy, India held general elections for its parliament (the Lok Sabha) over a period of several months from April to June. Overall, 642 million citizens cast ballots, including a record 312 million women. Current prime minister Narendra Modi is expected to secure a third term despite his party’s vote totals dropping.?

Indonesia held both presidential and parliamentary elections in February, with former military general Prabowo Subianto winning the presidency despite his party coming in third in the parliamentary vote. In an interesting twist, Subianto’s running mate Gibran Rakabuming is the son of current president Joko Widodo, whose party remained the largest in parliament even though its presidential candidate finished third.?

What’s on tap for the second half?

The United Kingdom’s prime minister Rishi Sunak called an early parliamentary election to be held on July 4th. A lot has happened since the last election in 2019, including the COVID-19 pandemic, Brexit, and Charles III’s ascent to the throne, so this year’s contest looks to be a memorable one.?

In what is sure to be a nail-biter, the United States will at long last hold its congressional and presidential elections in November in what is likely to be a rematch of the 2020 election between former president Donald Trump and current president Joe Biden. In spite of all of the hubbub around legal troubles and ballot access, the race remains far too close to call.

France’s president Emmanuel Macron stunned the continent when he, after his party’s poor performance in the EU Parliament elections, called a snap election for the country’s lower house, the National Assembly. While the first round concluded on June 30th with the opposition National Rally party tallying the most votes, a second round with runoffs in certain electoral districts looms and will take place on July 7th. This summer is shaping up to be a hectic one for France, as Paris is currently gearing up to host the Olympics shortly after the election.

Will there be any more surprises in the democratic world this year? We’re not sure, but we certainly can’t wait to recap the year in another six months!

Written by Alexander Boylston , writer and researcher at Assembly Voting.