The year the world voted

Bengaluru — In 2024, people voted in countries that were home to almost half the world’s population. In desert villages and at huge rallies on five continents, Reuters photographers were there to capture the hope and the euphoria, the frustration and the rage.

The votes took place at a time of global unrest, with conflict in Ukraine and the Middle East, and cost-of-living crises in many countries after the Covid-19 pandemic rippled out into supply chain shortages and high inflation.

From India to Ireland, the UK to Uruguay, Senegal to SA, voters went out to do their civic duty. They lined up in rain or scorching sunshine, some draping themselves in national flags or wearing shirts or even masks bearing the face of their preferred candidate.

Many of the elections were disputed and some sparked angry protests from those who felt their voices had not been recognised.

Observers said the elections in Mozambique, for example, were not free and fair. The opposition in Venezuela produced a vote tally that differed from the official one. In Algeria, the incumbent won 95% of the vote and in Indonesia protesters clashed with police over proposed changes to election law.

Nationalistic ideologies gained ground in elections in France, Romania, and Georgia, where the president called for protests after parliamentary elections that were marred by allegations of vote-rigging.

In Russia — where opponents of President Vladimir Putin have been censored and imprisoned — Putin won a landslide vote, further cementing his power.

Elsewhere, incumbents fell as voters punished them for painful price rises. Britain’s Conservatives and Japan’s Liberal Democrats received a drubbing. In the US, Republican Donald Trump beat the Democratic candidate Kamala Harris to return to the helm of the world’s biggest economy.

Over the border, Mexicans voted in Claudia Sheinbaum, the first woman ever to run the country.

In India, a multi-stage election featured over 1-million polling stations, from remote corners of the Himalayas to far-flung forests deep in Nagaland. Narendra Modi won a third term as prime minister but saw his majority shrink. It was the largest election in history.

Reuters