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Global elections

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks at a Citizens' Dialogue organized by the Lüneburg SPD to kick off his party's European election campaign, in Luneburg, Germany, Saturday April 27, 2024. (Markus Scholz/dpa via AP)

As EU election campaigns kick off in Germany, the Ukraine war, rise of far right are dominant themes

Several German parties have kicked off their campaigns for the election of the European Parliament in June with a focus on issues such as the war in Ukraine and many European voters’ support for far-right nationalist parties across the continent.

FILE - A woman holds a banner reading in Spanish, "Legal, safe, and free abortion" as abortion rights protesters demonstrate in front of the National Congress on the "Day for Decriminalization of Abortion in Latin America and the Caribbean," in Mexico City, Sept. 28, 2020. Mexico’s Supreme Court ruled in 2023 that national laws prohibiting abortions are unconstitutional and violate women’s rights. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)

A woman might win the presidency of Mexico. What could that mean for abortion rights?

A voter puts his hand on a classroom desk covered in marks as a polling officer applies indelible ink mark on his index finger at a polling station situated inside a school during the second round of voting in the national election, near Palakkad, in Indian southern state of Kerala, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

India votes in second phase of national elections with Modi’s BJP as front-runner

IDENTIFIES TRANSITIONAL COUNCIL MEMBERS - Ex-senator Louis Gerald Gilles, from left to right, pastor Frinel Joseph, barrister Emmanuel Vertilaire, businessman Laurent Saint-Cyr, interim Prime Minister Michel Patrick Boisvert, Judge Jean Joseph Lebrun, who is not a member of the council, former senate president Edgard Leblanc, Regine Abraham, former central bank governor Fritz Alphonse Jean, former diplomat Leslie Voltaire and former ambassador to the Dominican Republic Smith Augustin, pose for a group photo during an installation ceremony, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, April 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Meet the members of a transitional council tasked with choosing new leaders for beleaguered Haiti

Scotland's First Minister Humza Yousaf speaks during a press conference at Bute House, Edinburgh, Thursday, April 25, 2024. Scotland’s leader is facing a potential battle for survival after ending a three-year power-sharing agreement with the Scottish Green Party following a clash over climate change policies. First Minister Humza Yousaf of the Scottish National Party informed the leaders of the much smaller Greens on Thursday that he was terminating the power-sharing agreement. (Jeff J Mitchell/PA via AP)

Scottish leader faces battle for survival after ending power-sharing deal over climate change clash

FILE - A woman casts her vote in Romania's legislative election, in Bucharest, Romania, Dec. 6, 2020. According to a study released Thursday, April 11, 2024, voters in 19 countries, including in three of the world’s largest democracies, are widely skeptical about whether their elections are free and fair, and many favor a strong, undemocratic leader. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru, File)

Study finds voters skeptical about fairness of elections. Many favor a strong, undemocratic leader

INDIA VOTES

Polling officials and security personnel headed to a remote polling booth travel on a boat to cross the river Brahmaputra on the eve of parliament election at Baghmora Chapori (small island) of Majuli, northeastern Assam, India, April 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

Polling officials and security personnel headed to a remote polling booth travel on a boat to cross the river Brahmaputra on the eve of parliament election at Baghmora Chapori (small island) of Majuli, northeastern Assam, India, April 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

Ferrying voting machines to mountains and tropical areas in Indian elections is a Herculean task

From the Himalayan mountains to the tropical Andaman Islands, Indian officials are using helicopters, buses, trucks, boats, donkeys, and mules to carry electronic voting machines for India’s gigantic national elections.

Read more

Once a fringe Indian ideology, Hindu nationalism is now mainstream, thanks to Modi’s decade in power

India’s national election will take place in phases over 44 days. Here’s why it takes so long

For the world’s largest democratic exercise, one village’s polling officers are all women

Some voters in northeast India go back to the polls after violence disrupts first day of election

What’s on the voters’ minds as India heads into a 6-week national election

More News

Gordana Siljanovska Davkova, presidential candidate backed by the opposition conservative VMRO-DPMNE party, holds a news conference after winning in the first round of the presidential election, in Skopje, North Macedonia, late Wednesday, April 24, 2024. Siljanovska Davkova has a big lead ahead of Stevo Pendarovski, the candidate of the Social Democrats and they both will face each other in the second round of the presidential election that will coincide with the general election on May 8. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)

First round of North Macedonia’s presidential polls shows big shift towards center-right opposition

Near-complete results from North Macedonia’s first round of presidential polls confirm a strong shift towards a candidate backed by the country’s center-right opposition.

FILE - Togo's President Faure Gnassingbe waves before a working lunch at the Elysee Palace in Paris on April 9, 2021. Activists and opposition leaders in the West African country of Togo called on Wednesday, March 27, 2024, for protests to stop the country's president from signing off on a new constitution that would scrap future presidential elections and could extend his decades-long rule until 2031. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly, File)

Authorities in Togo are cracking down on media and the opposition, report says ahead of election

Amnesty International says authorities in Togo have repressed the media and prevented civilians from gathering to protest peacefully.

Indonesian Defense Minister and president-elect Prabowo Subianto, left, waves at media members as his running mate Gibran Rakabuming Raka, the eldest son of Indonesian President JokoWidodo, looks on during their formal declaration as president and vice president-elect at the General Election Commission building in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. Indonesia's electoral commission formally Subianto as the elected president in a ceremony on Wednesday after the country's highest court rejected appeals lodged by two losing presidential candidates who are challenging his landslide victory. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Indonesia declares Prabowo Subianto president-elect after court rejects rivals’ appeal

Indonesia’s electoral commission has formally declared Prabowo Subianto president-elect in a ceremony on after the country’s highest court rejected challenges to his landslide victory lodged by two losing presidential candidates.

Gordana Siljanovska Davkova, presidential candidate backed by the opposition conservative VMRO-DPMNE party, exits the booth before casting her ballot for the presidential election at a polling station, in Skopje, North Macedonia, on Wednesday, April 24, 2024. People are lining up at pools to cast their votes in a peaceful atmosphere, hoping that the next president will be able to bring the country into the European Union. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)

EU hopeful North Macedonia to hold May 8 presidential runoff with center-right candidate in the lead

North Macedonia faces a runoff presidential ballot, which will coincide with May 8 parliamentary elections.

FILE- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi listens to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President JP Nadda speak during an event organized to release their party's manifesto for the upcoming national parliamentary elections in New Delhi, India, April 14, 2024. India's main opposition party is accusing Modi of hate speech after he called Muslims “infiltrators" and used some of his most incendiary rhetoric to date about the minority faith.(AP Photo/Manish Swarup, File)

Modi accused of hate speech for calling Muslims ‘infiltrators’ at a rally days into India’s election

India’s main opposition party has accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of using hate speech after he called Muslims “infiltrators.”

People walk past election poster of Stevo Pendarovski, incumbent President and a presidential candidate backed by the ruling social democrats (SDSM), in a street in Skopje, North Macedonia, on Monday April 22, 2024. Voters go to the polls in North Macedonia on Wednesday April 24 for the first round of presidential elections, the seventh such election since the Balkan country gained independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991, where seven candidates are vying for the largely ceremonial position. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)

North Macedonia to elect president after campaign focused on hot-button issue of EU membership

Voters are going to the polls in North Macedonia this week for the first round of the presidential election, the seventh such vote since the Balkan country gained independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991.

Presidential candidate Anies Baswedan, left, and his running mate Muhaimin Iskandar react during their election appeal hearing at the Constitutional Court in Jakarta, Indonesia, Monday, April 22, 2024. The country's top court on Monday rejected appeals lodged by two losing presidential candidates who are demanding a revote, alleging widespread irregularities and fraud at the February polls. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Prabowo Subianto seals victory as Indonesia’s next leader after a top court rejects rivals’ appeals

Indonesia’s top court has rejected appeals by two losing presidential candidates who demanded a revote, alleging widespread irregularities and fraud in the February polls.

FILE - Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk reacts during his and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meeting with students in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, Jan. 22, 2024. Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk is celebrating a victory on Monday April 22, 2024 after a series of candidates supported by his party won weekend races for mayor. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)

Poland’s prime minister celebrates after his party wins a string of cities in mayoral votes

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has expressed satisfaction after a series of candidates supported by his party won weekend races for mayor.

FILE - Presidential candidate Claudia Sheinbaum greets supporters during her opening campaign rally at the Zocalo in Mexico City, March 1, 2024. Masked men stopped a vehicle carrying Sheinbaum, Mexico’s leading presidential candidate, while she was traveling between campaign stops Sunday, April 21, to ask that she address the violence in the southern state of Chiapas if she wins the June 2 election. (AP Photo/Aurea Del Rosario, File)

Mexico’s leading presidential candidate stopped by masked men who ask for help in stemming violence

Masked men stopped a vehicle carrying Mexico’s leading presidential candidate while she was traveling between campaign stops to ask that she address the violence in the southern state of Chiapas if she wins the June 2 election.

A woman casts her vote at a polling station in Male, India, Sunday, April 21, 2024. Maldivians are voting in parliamentary elections, in a ballot crucial for President Mohamed Muizzu, whose policies are keenly watched by India and China as they vie for influence in the archipelago nation. (AP Photo/Mohamed Sharuhaan)

Pro-China President Muizzu’s party sweeps Maldives parliamentary elections, preliminary results say

Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu’s political party has swept parliamentary elections in a strong endorsement of his pro-China foreign policy.

Polish voters take part in a local runoff election in Lomianki, near Warsaw, Poland on Sunday, April 21, 2024. Voters are choosing mayors who did not win outright in the first round of the election two weeks earlier. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Polish voters choose mayors in hundreds of cities in runoff election

Polish voters have chosen mayors in hundreds of cities and towns where no candidate won outright in the first round of local election voting two weeks ago.

A woman casts her vote at a polling station in Male, India, Sunday, April 21, 2024. Maldivians are voting in parliamentary elections, in a ballot crucial for President Mohamed Muizzu, whose policies are keenly watched by India and China as they vie for influence in the archipelago nation. (AP Photo/Mohamed Sharuhaan)

Voting begins for Maldives Parliament, watched by India and China vying for control of Indian Ocean

Maldivians are voting in parliamentary elections, in a ballot crucial for President Mohamed Muizzu, whose policies are keenly watched by India and China as they vie for influence in the archipelago nation.

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro speaks during a rally marking the 22nd anniversary of the late President Hugo Chavez's return to power after a failed coup attempt, in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, April 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Pedro Rances Mattey)

Venezuela’s main opposition bloc agrees on candidate to challenge Maduro in presidential election

Venezuela’s main opposition coalition has agreed to unite behind former diplomat Edmundo González as its challenger to President Nicolás Maduro in this July 28 election.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador gives his regularly scheduled morning press conference at the National Palace in Mexico City, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

2 mayoral candidates killed in Mexico, bringing the number slain so far to 17

Two mayoral candidates in Mexico have been killed, bringing to 17 the number of contenders slain in the lead-up to the June 2 elections.

Croatia's President Zoran Milanovic addresses the media outside a polling station after casting his vote in Zagreb, Croatia, Wednesday, April 17, 2024. Croatia is voting in a parliamentary election after a campaign that centred on a bitter rivalry between the president and prime minister of the small European Union and NATO member. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

Croatia’s top court rules President Milanović cannot be prime minister because of campaign

Croatia’s Constitutional Court has banned President Zoran Milanović from becoming prime minister in case his center-left party manages to garner a majority after this week’s highly contested parliamentary election.

A Deori tribal woman shows the indelible ink mark on her finger after casting her vote during the first round of polling of India's national election in Jorhat, India, Friday, April 19, 2024. Nearly 970 million voters will elect 543 members for the lower house of Parliament for five years, during staggered elections that will run until June 1. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

Indians vote in the first phase of the world’s largest election as Modi seeks a third term

Millions of Indians are voting in a six-week election that’s a referendum on Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Croatia's Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic arrives for a round table meeting at an EU summit in Brussels, Thursday, April 18, 2024. European Union leaders vowed on Wednesday to ramp up sanctions against Iran as concern grows that Tehran's unprecedented attack on Israel could fuel a wider war in the Middle East. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)

Croatia’s conservatives believe they’ll soon form a majority government despite inconclusive vote

Croatia’s ruling conservatives says that talks are already underway on the formation of a new governing majority following a highly contested parliamentary election that saw a far-right party emerge as a potential kingmaker.

From left, Estonia's Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, Belgium's Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, European Council President Charles Michel, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, author of the High-Level Report on the future of the Single Market Enrico Letta and Finland's Prime Minister Petteri Orpo speak during a round table meeting at an EU summit in Brussels, Thursday, April 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)

Belgian and Czech leaders exhort the EU to react amid concern over Russian election interference

The leaders of Belgium and the Czech Republic are warning their European Union partners to take urgent action to prevent Russian interference in June’s Europe-wide elections.

Farmer's Defense Force vice president Jos Ubels poses for a portrait at his farm in Anderen, Northern Netherlands, Monday, March 18, 2024. Ubels feels that everything from overbearing bureaucrats insisting when farmers should sow or harvest, imposing excessive restrictions on fertilizer and manure use and unfair international competition condoned by the European Union have created a potent mix that has driven him away from mainstream politics. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Frustrated farmers are rebelling against EU rules. The far right is stoking the flames

Europe’s farmers are angry, and staging their biggest protests in half a century. Far right groups are egging them on, and hoping to ride their anger to new success in European Parliament elections in June.

Presidential candidate Jose Raul Mulino, center, campaigns in the San Miguelito neighborhood of Panama City, Wednesday, April 10, 2024. The former foreign minister is one of eight candidates competing in the upcoming May 5th presidential election. (AP Photo/Agustin Herrera)

Panama’s presidential frontrunner skips third and final debate ahead of May 5 election

Six of the eight candidates vying to be Panama’s next president have laid out their plans to generate jobs and to manage the country’s water crisis in their final debate before the country’s May 5 election.

A giant canvas promoting the European elections is seen on the European Parliament Thursday, April 11, 2024 in Strasbourg, eastern France. The European Elections will take place from June 6 to June 9 2024. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)

Defense and security are on citizens’ minds before the EU Parliament elections, a survey finds

A survey has found Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is foremost in European Union citizens’ minds, with defense and security being key campaign issues ahead of June elections.

Large cutout portraits of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and Indian National Congress (INC) leaders are erected overseeing political supporters during an election campaign rally ahead of country's general elections, on the outskirts of southern Indian city of Chennai, April 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Colorful roadshows and rallies mark India’s election season before voting starts Friday

Every five years, the world’s most populous democracy holds a giant election for millions of Indians to cast their vote on a new parliament.

Prime Minister incumbent Andrej Plenkovic waves after claiming victory in a parliamentary election in Zagreb, Croatia, Thursday, April 18, 2024. Croatia's governing conservatives convincingly won a highly contested parliamentary election Wednesday, but will still need support from far-right groups to stay in power, according to the official vote count. The election followed a campaign that centered on a bitter rivalry between the country's president and prime minister. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Croatia’s ruling conservatives win parliamentary vote, but cannot rule alone

Croatia’s governing conservatives have won a highly contested parliamentary election, but without enough seats to rule alone.

A man casts his vote during the Solomon Islands elections in a village on the island of San Cristobal, Wednesday, April 17, 2024. Voting has closed across Solomon Islands on Wednesday in the South Pacific nation's first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiances from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. (AP Photo/Charley Piringi)

Solomon Islanders cast votes in an election that will shape relations with China

Voting has ended across the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiances from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region.

Greece names a convicted politician from Albania’s ethnic Greek minority as candidate in EU election

Greece’s governing conservative party has added a convicted politician from Albania’s ethnic Greek minority to its list of candidates for the upcoming European Parliament election, adding to the already existing tension between the two countries.

Voters board the already overcrowded Fair Glory ferry in Honiara, Solomon Islands, Saturday, April 13, 2024, heading to Malaita Island to vote in a national election. The country in which China has gained most influence in the South Pacific, Solomon Islands, goes to the polls on Wednesday in an election that could shape the region's future. (Mick Tsikas/AAP Image via AP)

Solomon Islands’ elections could impact China’s influence in the South Pacific

The country in which China has gained most influence in the South Pacific, Solomon Islands, goes to the polls on Wednesday in an election that could shape the region’s future.

FILE - Lawmakers from India's opposition parties protest against the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi outside the parliament in New Delhi, India, March 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri, file)

Opponents and journalists in Narendra Modi’s India feel the squeeze ahead of an election

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government are increasingly wielding strong-arm tactics to subdue political opponents and critics of the ruling Hindu-nationalist party ahead of the national elections that start this week.

People sit on a cafe terrace while others wave flags during a rolling HDZ party rally in downtown Zagreb, Croatia, Sunday, April 14, 2024. Croatia this week holds a parliamentary election following a campaign that was marked by heated exchanges between the country's two top officials, creating a political crisis in the Balkan country, a European Union and NATO member state. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

Croatia’s parliamentary election follows harsh contest between country’s top two officials

Croatia’s upcoming parliamentary election, set for Wednesday, follows a campaign that was marked by heated exchanges between the country’s two top officials.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, second right, releases his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's manifesto for the upcoming national parliamentary elections in New Delhi, India, Sunday, April 14, 2024. Standing from L to R with him are BJP's senior leaders Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Party President JP Nadda. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

India’s Modi vows to boost social spending, make country into a manufacturing hub ahead of election

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has vowed to boost social spending, develop infrastructure and make India a global manufacturing hub as companies shift away from China.

FILE - Belgium's Prime Minister Alexander De Croo arrives for an EU Summit in Brussels, on March 22, 2024. De Croo announced on Friday, April 12, 2024 an investigation into suspected Russian interference in Europe-wide elections in June, saying that his country's intelligence service has confirmed the existence of a network trying to undermine support for Ukraine. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert, File)

Belgium launches probe into suspected Russian interference in upcoming EU elections

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo has announced an investigation into suspected Russian interference in June’s Europe-wide elections.