The US Isn’t the Only Nation Going to the Polls

The November election is a great big deal: We call it a "presidential" election, but there will also be races for 33 U.S. Senate seats, all 435 U.S. House seats, 5,793 state legislative seats along with thousands of other offices and ballot questions.

But the U.S. is by no means the only country with big-deal elections this year. Seventy-six other countries hold national elections in 2024, according to the International Federation for Electoral Systems. Many have made headlines already: Taiwan in January, France in June and the United Kingdom in July.

How do these elections compare with those in the U.S.?

There's much the same across the globe. All countries have mechanisms for identifying who can vote and processes to ensure votes are accurately counted and reported, and they're doing what they can to protect elections from cyberattacks.

At the same time, much varies internationally in terms of how ballots are cast, how many people participate, who's in charge and much more.

How People Vote

The U.S. is an outlier among nations in offering no-excuse absentee voting in two-thirds of the states. Globally, the norm is in-person voting. Over time, an increasing number of U.S. voters have cast absentee, or mail, ballots, including a third of all voters in 2022. According to the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), just 17% of other nations offer what it calls "postal voting."

More nations-35%-offer early in-person voting. (In the U.S., early in-person voting is available in 46 states.) "Early in-person voting maintains most of the strengths of in-person voting on Election Day," says Oliver Joseph, an adviser at International IDEA. "Early voters cast their ballot in a controlled environment, mitigating potential or perceived issues with protecting voters' freedom of choice and secret ballot." In many cases, voters in other countries have just one day to vote and just one location to do it.

In some countries-India, notably, but also Sudan and others-elections take place on a rolling schedule over many weeks as election officials move the voting operation from region to region. Although the election itself lasts for up to eight weeks, the voting window is brief: Voters must cast their ballots while the operation is in town or forfeit their democratic right.

In sum, the U.S. is simply unusual in providing so many options for voters.

Who Runs Elections

A core attribute of U.S. elections is that they are decentralized-each state sets its own rules on how its elections are run, and in most states the actual work of running elections is done through local jurisdictions. Nationwide, about 8,000 local entities run elections.

Most countries have a centralized electoral management body, or EMB, that has some role in establishing consistent electoral processes. EMBs are not all the same: an independent entity oversees elections in 64% of 204 countries, a government agency does the job in 21%, and responsibility is shared in 13%, according to IDEA's Electoral Management Design database. Two percent of nations do not hold national elections.

The "independent" EMBs may be accountable to a legislature or other entity in some way. In some countries, the EMB may be a commission comprising individuals from multiple political parties; this is common in Central and Eastern Europe. In Australia, Canada and many other countries, election administration is in the hands of nonpartisan professionals.

Either way, the U.S. system is unusual. Two-thirds of states rely on partisan elected officials-often the secretary of state or lieutenant governor-to oversee elections. The rest use a bipartisan state board of some kind for this work. (For more, see this NCSL brief.)

No matter who manages an election at the top, what matters to voters is a smooth, easy process at the polls.

Voter Turnout

Voter turnout has been relatively high in recent years when compared with the last two to three decades. In 2020, nationwide turnout was 66% of the eligible population, according to the University of Florida Election Lab, the highest of any election since 1900. In 2022, turnout was over 45%, reasonably high for a midterm election.

Despite the recent rise in turnout at home, these numbers are relatively low compared with those in many European nations. Iceland, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden all saw greater than 70% turnout of their voting-age population in their most recent national parliamentary elections, according to International IDEA's Voter Turnout database.

The turnout gap may relate to a country's political culture, excitement over candidates or even the weather.

In 27 countries, turnout is particularly high because voting is required. In Australia, for instance, turnout regularly hovers around 90%.

In the U.S. compulsory voting, aka universal voting, sounds radical, but there are proponents-read all about it in the book "100% Democracy: The Case for Universal Voting," by E.J. Dionne Jr. and Miles Rapoport. They make the case that voting is a civic responsibility no less important than jury duty. Universal voting bills have been introduced in Washington and Connecticut.

The one thing that's certain here, there and everywhere: Deciding not to vote is a choice that affects the outcome of elections just as voting itself does.

More US-Global Comparisons

• Voter registration is compulsory in some form in more than half of countries globally, according to the ACE Project's Electoral Knowledge Network.
• The U.S. is an outlier in having so much of our governmental structure selected directly by the voters. We elect people to serve in our governing bodies including Congress, legislatures and county, municipal, school and special districts. We also directly elect people to carry out administrative functions, such as state-level constitutional officers and local treasurers, sheriffs, coroners and more. In many countries, the ballot is simply for the candidate or party of your choice, and the party then decides who fills specific rolls.
• "Direct democracy," by which voters cast ballots for or against specific policy choices, is more common here than elsewhere. Nationwide, 26 states have citizen initiatives, and many local jurisdictions allow citizens to put their ideas on ballots, too. Internationally, these measures are referred to as referendums. In 2022, the most recent year in which federal or statewide elections were held, 141 statewide ballot measures were decided in 38 states, according to NCSL research. The number of local measures was far higher.
• States use varying forms of voter identification to ensure that only eligible people can vote. Voter registration is the starting point for that, and two-thirds of the states ask for identification at the polls as well. Around the globe, where in-person Election Day voting is standard, dying a finger or thumb with ink to indicate a person has voted is a common approach to preventing double voting. So is using a state-issued identity card that serves for much more than just voting.
• By far, most U.S. elections are "winner take all," where the candidate with the most votes wins-even if that person's share of the vote is under 50%. Some states and local jurisdictions do use other systems that require getting a majority of votes to win: A handful of states use runoffs for primary elections, and use of ranked choice voting, while rare, has increased over the last decade. Internationally, two-round elections, or runoffs, are rarely used for electing legislatures but are not uncommon for electing presidents, particularly in countries with constitutional or cultural links to France (former French colonies), IDEA's Joseph says. "Ranked choice voting is also used in Australia for the lower House of Representatives, in Papua New Guinea and previously in Fiji. It was used for city mayors in England, too, until 2022, when the national government reverted to a plurality, first-past-the-post system."
• When elections are held varies. In many countries, the government can "call" an election at any point within a prescribed window; the elections are conducted weeks later. That means there is no set calendar. (It also means campaigns are short!) The U.S. has an ironclad schedule for federal and state elections. Americans vote on the same day every two years for federal offices (president, U.S. Senate and U.S. House). When state races are held is equally clear: Most are held with federal elections, but four states use the odd-numbered years.
• When local elections happen depends on the state. Historically, local jurisdictions could decide when they wanted to run their elections. Over time, many states have defined specific dates, and a small but growing number of states require that local elections be on the same day as state elections. (See this map from the Sightline Institute.) The term internationally is "synchronized elections." Some countries allow them; others prohibit them. "Those that outlaw them fear that national sentiment may influence voter choice on local issues," Joseph says. "On the other side, synchronized elections are much cheaper. Sweden holds national and subnational elections all on the same day every four years, with the exception of European parliamentary elections."
• One common thread across all nations is the need for people to do the on-the-ground work. Poll workers check voter eligibility, hand out ballots, set up polling locations-the list goes on. In the U.S., just about anyone can serve; around the globe, teachers are often tapped. Aug. 1, 2024, is National Poll Worker Recruitment Day.

Wendy Underhill directs NCSL's Elections and Redistricting Program.

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