A Year of Frenzied Voting the World Over, but What’s the Ultimate Test of a Democracy?

The European Parliament elections saw right-wing parties secure significant gains, though fewer than anticipated, with no single bloc securing an overall majority. Centrist parties engaged in negotiations to form a coalition to support Ursula von der Leyen for a second term as European Commission President. The European People’s Party emerged as the single largest party, scooping 186 of the 720 seats, to build a centrist, pro-European majority to counteract the rise of far-right parties and address the risk of societal polarization, which has been identified as a major concern in the coming years.

In the first month of this year, despite extensive Chinese interference in the information space, Taiwan’s elections demonstrated the country’s continued commitment to consolidating its democracy and rejecting authoritarianism. However, in El Salvador, the “world’s coolest dictator,” President Nayib Bukele, secured a second term, which is likely to result in continued crackdowns on human rights and civil liberties. And on 14 February - the largest single day of voting this year - Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto, a former general who has been linked to human rights abuses, claimed victory in Indonesia. The Constitutional Court also ruled that his running mate, son of the outgoing president, was eligible to stand for election despite not meeting the age threshold - a decision that many feel is evidence of executive pressure on the judiciary.

This year of “mega-elections” comes at a time when major democracy indices mark seven consistent years of global democratic erosion, the closing of civic space, attacks on human and fundamental rights, and a decline in the rule of law. In addition, growing populism in Hungary and Venezuela, attacks on representative government in Tunisia and Peru, and ongoing repression in Ghana, Turkiye, and Myanmar, coupled with anarchist information space, transnational attacks on human rights defenders, the co-opting of judiciaries, and growing corruption, have left many wondering if 2024 is a global referendum on democracy as we know it. In spite of all of this, faith in democracy remains high, with the Open Society Barometer noting that 86 percent of respondents want to live in a democracy, and 72 percent view human rights as a force for good. Thus, perhaps 2024 is not merely a referendum on democracy but rather a referendum on how democracy is applied and practiced and, to a greater extent, a referendum on the presence of inclusive democracy, where citizens of diverse identities have equal access to political power and where democratic systems favor the many rather than the few. 

Elections can be both an opportunity and an impediment to LGBTIQ movements. In 2022, in Uganda and Kenya, candidates utilized anti-LGBTIQ narratives in an effort to win votes, vilify other candidates, and prevent LGBTIQ people from exercising their political rights. In Namibia and Sri Lanka, the fate of decriminalization legislation rests with the 2024 general election results, as does the passing of Ghana’s extreme anti-LGBTIQ law, which would expand criminalization to include allies and those financially supporting LGBTIQ civil society.  

In more positive news, however, recent elections in Brazil saw over 300 openly LGBTIQ candidates run for office and two transgender women elected to the Brazilian Congress. In Mexico, political parties nominated LGBTIQ candidates at historic rates after successfully implementing proportional representation requirements to enhance the political representation of underrepresented groups, including LGBTIQ people. As the GLIDE Landscape Analysis report shows, legal gender recognition is a significant barrier to trans, intersex, and nonbinary individuals' participation in civic and democratic processes. Without accurate identification, these individuals remain at increased risk of discrimination and violence in various aspects of life, including the ability to register to vote, get a job, claim benefits, and participate as political candidates and leaders. 

With a little over three months before the end of 2024, election results have been mixed, with more mixed results predicted. What is clear, is that the countries which seek to elevate the leadership and voices of LGBTIQ groups and reduce barriers to their political participation are seeing benefits to representation, free and fair elections, and the invalidation of anti-democratic movements. Leaders who acknowledge LGBTIQ people as constituents, rather than cherry-picking who they represent, tend to prioritize queer inclusion as part of democracy building and are more likely to see their democracies grow, sustain themselves, and become more resilient to future political shocks. 

However, this trajectory is neither automatic nor inevitable; it requires action among LGBTIQ movements, whether it involves engaging election management bodies to implement more inclusive policies, hosting get-out-the-vote drives, demanding more of political parties, or calling out disinformation online and within the media. It requires LGBTIQ individuals to vote and sustain engagement after the election results are in. This year of mega-elections is increasingly shaping up to be a referendum on the application of democracy, and it will be up to citizens, including LGBTIQ people, to demand democracies that deliver for all people.  

About GLIDE Initiative 

The Global LGBTQI+ Inclusive Democracy and Empowerment (GLIDE) Initiative - is a partnership between Outright International, Synergía Initiative for Human Rights, and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES)