Category: Election Watch

Election Results—October 2024

Reports on elections in Austria, the Czech Republic, and Tunisia.

Kais Saied is claiming a landslide election win. The truth is he was never willing to face a real competition. Just how insecure he feels will likely determine how much more repressive he will become.

Election Results—August and September 2024

Reports on elections in Algeria, Azerbaijan, Jordan, Kiribati, Sint Maarten, and Sri Lanka.

The Man Who Would Oust a Dynasty

Marlon Ariyasinghe

A few years ago Anura Kumara Dissanayake led a struggling political party with bleak prospects. Now he is Sri Lanka’s newly elected president. The hardest work may still lie ahead.

Election Results—July 2024

Reports on elections in Rwanda, Syria, and Venezuela.

Is This the Beginning of Maduro’s End?

Alejandro Tarre

The Venezuelan strongman is attempting to steal the country’s presidential election and daring the people to stop him. But even if military leaders are backing him, Maduro is already weaker than he appears.

Election Results—June and July 2024

Reports on elections in Belgium, Bulgaria, the European Union, France, Iran, Mauritania, Mongolia, San Marino, and the United Kingdom.

Why Macron’s Big Gamble Worked

Jean-Yves Camus

The French president risked it all to hand the far right a stinging loss. But the celebration can’t last long. If the country is to avoid greater political chaos, voters must be encouraged to think about broader coalitions that go beyond a narrow left-right divide.

Election Results—May and June 2024

Reports on elections in Chad, the Dominican Republic, Iceland, India, Iran, Lithuania, Mexico, North Macedonia, Panama, South Africa, and Togo.

Can Claudia Sheinbaum Emerge from AMLO’s Shadow?

León Krauze

She was just elected Mexico’s first woman president in a landslide. The future of Mexico’s democracy rests on whether she can break from her predecessor’s ways and carve her own democratic path.

Election Results—April 2024

Reports on elections in Croatia, Kuwait, the Maldives, Senegal, Slovakia, the Solomon Islands, and South Korea.

Why This Election Is India’s Most Important

Šumit Ganguly

Voters are choosing more than the parties and politicians who will represent them. It is something more basic: The future of India’s secular democracy is on the ballot.

Election Results—March 2024

Reports on elections in Azerbaijan, Belarus, Finland, Indonesia, Iran, Pakistan, Portugal, Russia, and Zimbabwe.

Why Does the Kremlin Bother Holding Sham Elections?

Margarita Zavadskaya

Everyone knows that Russia’s election is a fraud. The problem is no dictator ever feels safe enough, and Putin thinks even a fake election will signal to his cronies that he’s still in charge.

Election Results—February 2024

Reports on elections in Comoros, El Salvador, Senegal, and Tuvalu.

How the World’s Most Popular Dictator Wins

Manuel Meléndez-Sánchez

El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele may be overwhelmingly popular, but he wasn’t going to let his electoral ambitions hinge on being well-liked. Instead, he rigged the playing field before the first vote was cast.

Election Results—January 2024

Reports on elections in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Serbia, Sint Maarten, and Taiwan.

Why Taiwan’s Voters Defied Beijing—Again

Raymond Kuo

Taiwan’s voters rewarded the ruling party with an unprecedented third consecutive term, despite the mainland’s attempts to intimidate. Expect Beijing to find new ways to threaten the democracy off its coast.