Illustration by Anson Chan.
2024 Will Be the Biggest Election Year in World History
And That’s Not Good News for Democracy
The latest global reports show democracy contracting across every region of the world. For six straight years, more countries have experienced net declines in democratic processes than net improvements …
UPCOMING EVENT
Tuesday, October 22, 2024 – 7:00 PM PDT
A panel of civically engaged Gen Zers and young millennials from across the political spectrum visit Zócalo to stand up and speak for themselves: progressive political digital media specialist Annie Wu Henry, youth civic engagement advocate Ava Mateo, and former Iowa State representative Joe Mitchell. Moderated by Christian Paz, Senior Politics Reporter, Vox …
EVENT
In Georgia I Trust
A Cobb County Poll Worker Is Confident Voting Is Safe, Secure, and Fair—Despite What Election Deniers Might Say
For a dozen or so elections since 2020, I have worked as a poll worker in Cobb County, Georgia. It has been an eye-opening experience that has made me more certain than ever that the voting process, at least what I’ve seen of it in my slice of the state, is safe, secure, and fair. Which makes me believe there’s little reason to question it anywhere else in the country, despite what the election deniers say …
What It’s Like to Experience the U.S. Election From Prison
We Can’t Vote on Politicians’ Promises or Policies—Even Though They Will Shape Nearly Every Aspect of Our Realities
Incarcerated people care about elections because they can give us either hope or hopelessness. Criminal disenfranchisement, which traces its roots back to ancient Greece and Rome, is a sterile term for the irreconcilable truth that one of the groups most affected by elections cannot vote in them …
How I Became a One-Way Pen Pal for Democracy
I Write Postcards to Try to Reform Ballot Scofflaws. All the While Wondering, Who Are These People Anyway?
What’s at Stake for Northern Ireland in the U.K. Elections?
Changing Demographics and Post-Brexit Tensions Could Mean a Reconciled and Reunified Ireland
What Was Macron Thinking?
Snap Elections and Political Turmoil Put France at a Critical Juncture, and Voters in an Uncomfortable Place
Here in France, we had all expected the far-right Rassemblement National (National Rally)—or the RN—to outperform in the European elections earlier this month. At 8 p.m. on June 9, the results confirmed the polls and our fears.
But we never expected the bombshell that President Emmanuel Macron dropped on us a mere hour later …
Mexico’s Noisy, Colorful, Unserious Election
We’re About to Elect Our First Woman President, But Most of Us Know Real Change Isn’t Coming
In Mexico City, braving a month-long heatwave, literal tons of political propaganda litter the streets. Every free wall, pedestrian bridge, and lamp post has been overtaken by multicolor plastic signs and candidates’ smiling faces. Plastered one on top of the other, most end up crumbled, half ripped, or destroyed …
What Kind of European Future Do Romanians Want?
On the Eve of Elections, Voters and Candidates Alike Are Vague on the Issues
Young South Africans Are Sick of the Status Quo
This Election Season, No One Is Fighting for Our Future—Mandela’s Party Included
What Do Indian Women Want from This Election?
They’re Voting in Historic Numbers. But It Might Not Make Them Happier or More Prosperous
Since April 19, the day general elections began in India, voters have queued up outside polling booths, braving a muggy, scorching heatwave. The mood appears mostly upbeat. Voters talk to TV news reporters. They articulate wishes for change or belief in the incumbent leader …
This Korean Election Shows How Fragile Our Democracy Is
Our Economic Culture Has Isolated Us. Our Politics Have Divided Us. Now We’re Backsliding
More than three decades after South Korea’s democratic transition, we thought we had consolidated our democratic progress. We imagined that our democracy was strong and would grow stronger.
We are learning we were wrong …
In Ukraine, No Election Doesn’t Mean the Electorate Is Happy
President Zelensky Is an International Star. At Home, It’s More Complicated
Seeking a Politics of Solidarity in Putin’s Russia
In a Country Where Nothing Changes, a 23-Year-Old Finds Hope Outside the Electoral System
On the Campaign Trail With a Russian Antiwar Candidate
Thousands of People Came Out to Support Boris Nadezhdin’s Presidential Run. They Refuse to Lose Hope
I spent 12 days collecting signatures. Initially, it was slow: only a few individuals were willing to sign in support of Nadezhdin. But as the submission deadline approached, there was a significant surge in participation, particularly among young people, ages 18 to 25 …
Recap: One Nation … Under Parliament?
The Zócalo and Los Angeles Times Event ‘Would Parliamentary America Have More Fun?’ Considers a U.S. Governed by Multi-Party Coalitions
Watch the program: Would Parliamentary America Have More Fun?
An editorial and public programs series about voters’ experiences around the world in 2024
Featuring constitutional law professor and author Maxwell L. Stearns and Los Angeles Times columnist Erika D. Smith …
An Election Without Artists
The Outgoing Indonesian President’s Campaigns Inspired Songs, Paintings, and Poems. Creatives’ Silence in This Race Speaks Volumes
Will Indonesia’s Youth Install a Political Dynasty?
On TikTok, Gen Z Voters See the Candidates as Father Figures and Kindly Uncles. They Don’t Get the Whole Story
President Suharto’s New Order regime was a dictatorship in which he often liked to refer to the Indonesian nation as a “family” with himself at the helm—a patriarchal state …
Pakistan’s General Election Is a Generals’
Election
Since the Country’s Founding, the Military Has Ruled Over Civilian Affairs—This Vote Won’t Change That
In Pakistan, the scramble for power among the political parties is like an invitation for bids from the Army. Political parties in Pakistan have internalized that appeasing the military is the only sure way to access power corridors …
Can a Third of My Neighbors Really Be Far-Right Extremists?
I Joined a United Germany When the Wall Fell. Now I Fear for Its Future
In Dhaka, the Roadblocks to Democracy Are Roadblocks
As the Election Looms in Bangladesh, Blockades Are More Than a Metaphor for the Obstacles Facing Voters
I Bought a Pricey Plane Ticket in Hopes of Voting for a United Taiwan
But Now There’s No Viable Party I Can Support
Taiwan’s early election—on January 13—presented a conundrum. That’s a time of year I tend to spend with grandkids in the Bay Area. But I very much wanted to see a change at the top of the Taiwanese government …