This historic year, more people than ever before are voting in national elections around the world. Some two billion eligible voters in at least 64 countries, plus the European Union, are either casting their ballots or have already done so. The results so far suggest the planet is hungry for change, and that will almost certainly have an impact on your business.
But what “change” means depends on where it’s happening. Midway through 2024, far-right parties made significant gains in Europe while the centre-left British Labour Party ended 14 years of conservative Tory rule in the U.K. In India and South Africa, long-ruling parties were forced to form coalitions after losing their majorities. Senegal’s presidential vote, which saw an anti-corruption candidate replace that country’s decades-old ruling coalition, was considered a victory for democracy; Venezuela’s disputed return of authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro was not.
And in countries where opposition has been discouraged if not outlawed entirely, such as Russia or Bangladesh, voters have few options aside from spoiling their ballots or boycotting elections in protest, which more and more are doing.
Little wonder, then, that Staffan Lindberg, the director of the Swedish think tank Varieties of Democracy Institute (better known as V-Dem), has said: “2024 may be the make-or-break year for democracy in the world,”
In fact:
59% of respondents were dissatisfied with how their democracy was functioning;
74% said elected officials don’t care what people like them think;
42% believed that no political party in their country represented their views.
As the year winds to a close, all eyes are on the United States. Meanwhile, on this side of the border, British Columbia’s provincial election will be held on October 19 and Canada must hold its own national election by October 2025.
Given all the change happening around the globe, it will be a very different world by then.
National Elections Around the World in 2024
Still To Vote
- Lithuania – Population: 2.7 million – Date: October 13 and 27(parliament)
- Republic of Moldova – Population: 3 million – Date: October 20 to November 3
- Georgia – Population: 3.7 million – Date: October 26
- Uruguay – Population: 3.4 million – Date: October 27
- Uzbekistan – Population: 35.7 million – Date: October 27
- Botswana – Population: 2.7 million – Date: October 30
- United States of America – Population: 345 million – Date: November 5
- Palau – Population: 18,000 – Date: November 5
- Guinea Bissau – Population: 2.2 million – Date: November 24
- Namibia – Population: 2.6 million – Date: November 27
- Romania – Population: 19 million – Date: November 24 to December 8
- Mauritius – Population: 1.3 million – Date: November 30
- Croatia – Population: 4 million – Date: December
- Ghana – Population: 34.8 million – Date: December 7
- South Sudan – Population: 11.9 million – Date: December 22
- Mali – Population: 24.5 million – Date: unknown; postponed indefinitely by junta for “technical reasons”
- Ukraine – Population: 37.9 million – Date: unknown; delayed due to martial law
Already Voted
Americas
- El Salvador – Date: February 4
- Panama – Date: May 5
- Dominican Republic – Date: May 19
- Mexico – Date: June 2
- Venezuela – Date: July 28
Oceania
- Tuvalu – Date: January 26
- Solomon Islands – Date: April 17
- Kiribati – Date: August 14 to 19
Europe
- Finland – Date: January 28
- Belarus – Date: February 25
- Russian Federation – Date: March 15 to 17
- Portugal – Date: March 10
- Slovakia – Date: March to April
- North Macedonia – Date: presidential election April 24; parliamentary elections May 8
- Iceland – Date: June 1
- European Union – Date: June 6 to 9
- Belgium – Date: June 9
- San Marino – Date: June 9
- United Kingdom – Date: July 4
- Czechia – Date: September 20 to 28
- Austria – Date: September 29
Asia
- Bangladesh – Date: January 7
- Bhutan – Date: January 9
- Taiwan – Date: January 13
- Azerbaijan – Date: February 7
- Pakistan – Date: February 8
- Indonesia – Date: February 14
- Cambodia – Date: February 25
- Iran – Date: March 1
- South Korea – Date: April 10
- India – Date: April 19 to June 1
- Maldives – Date: April 21
- Mongolia – Date: June 28
- Syria – Date: July 15
- Sri Lanka – Date: September 21
- Jordan – Date: September 10
Africa
- Comoros – Date: January 14
- Senegal – Date: February 25
- Togo – Date: April 29
- Chad – Date: May 6
- South Africa – Date: May 29
- Madagascar – Date: May 29
- Mauritania – Date: June 22
- Rwanda – Date: July 15
- Algeria – Date: September 7
- Tunisia – Date: October 6
- Mozambique – Date: October 9
