On January 1, Future Perfect published its predictions for 2024. The forecasts range from the number of poultry that will be culled because of bird flu this year to which film will win the Oscar for Best Picture. (Oppenheimer — take it to the bank.) But no single subject was covered by more predictions than who will win some of the most important elections around the world this year.
That’s because 2024 will be the biggest election year in history. More than 60 countries representing half the world’s population will go to the polls in 2024, with an estimated 4 billion people voting in presidential, legislative, and local elections. Those elections will range from the massive — India’s multi-day legislative elections (the largest in the world) and Indonesia’s presidential poll, the world’s biggest single-day vote — to tiny North Macedonia’s presidential election.
2024’s elections will include polls that will be free and aboveboard, like Iceland’s presidential election, which will be held in the world’s third most democratic country, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit. Then there are the countries with somewhat less free elections, like North Korea. (North Koreans have a choice when they go to the polls in the same way that my son has a choice between “cereal” and “cereal” for breakfast.) In between will be most of the rest of 2024’s elections, including the US presidential election, where the winner of the popular vote actually lost the election two out of the last six campaigns.
The stakes for 2024’s democratic contests will be enormous — not just for the countries going to the polls, but for the world…
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