2023-12-03 19:29:33
The year 2024 promises to leave its mark on electoral minds. More than 75 countries will experience an election during the year. According to The Economist magazine, 43 of them will organize “free and fair” elections, recalling the existence of undemocratic systems in the world. Who is concerned ? Are the French among the 4 billion people who will go to the polls in 2024? Do so many elections mean a political turning point? What are the issues ? Lepetitjournal.com dissects the record year of elections around the world…
945 million Indians called to the polls in 2023
All continents affected by elections in 2024
In Asia, India, Pakistan, Iran, Bangladesh and Indonesia will call their populations to the polls. Unsurprisingly, it is the Indians who weigh the most in the electoral balance of the continent with an estimate of 945 million voters in 2023, or around six times more than during the first elections in 1951.
More than 945 million voters in India in 2023
nMillions of Indians to the polls in 2024
In Africa, the highly anticipated elections are those of Mali. After the last coup d’état in May 2021, the military committed to organizing presidential and legislative elections. It will ultimately only be a presidential election. Initially scheduled for February 2024, it would take place with “a slight postponement”. Elections are also taking place in South Africa and Senegal, where the issue is mainly economic.
In Central and South America, Mexico is preparing for federal elections in early June 2024. Before it, Panama is holding general elections in May. El Salvador, for its part, elects its next president in February 2024. The current leader, Nayib Bukele, has just left his post to be able to prepare for his re-election in 2024. If his popularity is strong due to his management of the Covid-19 crisis and his fight against gangs, his opponents accuse him of frequent attacks on democracy.
In North America, it’s time for the American elections, mentioned later in the article. In Oceania, Australia will experience federal elections. On the European continent, Finland will elect its president at the end of January 2024 and the populations of EU member states will choose their MEPs.
An election in Taiwan delicate in the face of China’s desire for annexation
Taiwan, a delicate presidential election
After Bangladesh, Taiwan opens the ball with elections in 2024. Nearly 20 million Taiwanese will go to the polls on January 13, 2024, to elect their next president but also their deputies. An election that is not so trivial given the geopolitical context of the island that China would like to annex. Two parties oppose each other: the Kuomintang (KMT), close to the Chinese government and which seeks appeasement, and the DPP, a progressive party in power for 8 years. The polls show, for the moment, the DPP winning in the candidate personality of Lai Ching-te.
Under the Maps: a show to understand geopolitical tensions in Taiwan
A crowd in Taiwan
Vladimir Putin would be re-elected with 90% of the votes
Russia “chooses” its next president in March 2024
On Sunday March 17, 2024, Russians will go to the polls. Since the constitution was amended in 2020 at the request of Vladimir Putin, the current president, he can stand for re-election and serve a new term. Not being an official candidate, there is almost no doubt about his candidacy. There is no known opponent, the last – Alexei Navalny – was sentenced to 19 years in prison in August 2023. Almost at the same time as this conviction, Dmitri Peskov, spokesperson for the Kremlin, mentioned in an article from the New York Times that the March 2024 election deadline was a “costly bureaucracy” and that Vladimir Putin would be re-elected with 90% of the vote. In 2018, around 109 million Russians were registered to vote. For his part, still at war with Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been specifying for several months that “this is not the time for presidential elections” initially planned for 2024 in the country.
400 million European voters are called to vote at the same time
The French will also vote in 2024
The French will vote in 2024 during the European elections on June 9, 2024. They will choose their 79 MEPs, like the 26 other member states. French people abroad also choose their representatives in the European Parliament. To do this, you must be registered on the consular electoral list. The vote is on June 9, except for the French on the American continent and in the Caribbean who will vote on June 8. Also special for French nationals in an EU country, they can participate in the vote for the representatives of their host country by registering on the municipal electoral lists.
In total, 720 MEPs will be elected, five years after the last election. 400 million European voters are expected to vote at the same time, which is considered by analysts to be the largest transnational vote in the world. The overall participation rate in May 2019 was 50.66%. Specific this year, the European elections are the first since Brexit and therefore without the United Kingdom.
The United States, the election with the biggest global issues
The elections in the United States are the most important of the year. Not only by the scale of the event – 240 million Americans with the right to vote are called to the polls to elect the Electors who themselves elect the next president – but also according to the personality who will pass. Currently, The Economist even suggests that if Donald Trump becomes the 47th president of the United States on November 5, 2024, all analyzes and forecasts of the future can be thrown away and the world cards redistributed. Will the former president’s legal indictments slow down his race? Not sure.
Beyond the chosen personality, the Democratic and Republican parties are assiduously considering the future direction of the country’s foreign policy, including the position vis-à-vis China, climate action, relations with Europe or protection of their industry.
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American voters who will vote in 2024
30% would not be opposed to the installation in their country of a strong leader
Other issues of the record election year
Of the 76 countries that will hold elections in 2024, 33 will not do so freely according to analysts The Economist. A considerable challenge since it could further disrupt the world democratic order… More worryingly, a survey by the NGO Open Society Foundations in September 2023 shows that 30% of those surveyed would not be opposed to the installation in their country of a strong leader, who neglects free and fair elections in particular. Another figure from the survey, 35% of citizens aged 18-35 are “ready to put up with it” and therefore accept potentially unfree elections, proof that confidence in democracy (and politicians) is fading ?
Another major issue is the place of environmental issues and climate change. If environmental awareness has grown in recent years around the world, it does not necessarily translate into a good green electoral score, as shown Ipsos graphic analysis in 2019 :
Not to mention countries where environmental issues are not even on the table, as was the case during the Argentinian elections in November 2023. The climate debate is, however, a major issue for political decision-makers elected in 2024.
Finally, UNESCO warns of the spread of false information online and the major impact on elections: “The regulation of social networks constitutes a democratic issue”, insists Audrey Azoulay, Director General of UNESCO, during the conference given Monday November 6 in Paris. Especially since digital platforms are often the first source of information in countries with a low development index.
Fight against disinformation: UNESCO on the edge to protect information
Russian voters called to vote in 2024
UNESCO also calls on world governments to protect journalists, who are major players in any election. And for good reason, between January 2019 and June 2022, 759 individual attacks against journalists were recorded during 89 elections in 70 countries. Among them, 5 journalists were assassinated.
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