Ballot Integrity in the World’s Biggest and Most Powerful Democracies

The U.S. presidential election is the most internationally consequential of all, while, by sheer weight of numbers, India’s is the most awe-inspiring.

An Indian voter gets her finger marked with ink at a polling station during India's general election in Shahpur, Uttar Pradesh, on April 11, 2019. Money Sharma/AFP/Getty Images

Commentary

This is the year of elections, with about 80 countries and the European Union going to the polls, accounting for almost half the world’s total population. The list includes the United States and India, the world’s most powerful and populous democracies, respectively. The U.S. presidential election is the most internationally consequential of all, while, by sheer weight of numbers, India’s is the most awe-inspiring.