Election year 2026: the big votes still to come

Symbolic image: ballot box · Photo: CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

⏱ 2 min · Politics & World · 2 August 2026

2026 is a global election year: more than 40 countries, home to over 1.5 billion people, go to the polls. The most consequential votes are still ahead, in the autumn.

United States (November): the midterms decide control of Congress – and deliver a first big verdict on Donald Trump's second term.

Brazil (October): President Lula da Silva is running for another term.

Israel (by October): the vote is seen as open – and as a test of whether Prime Minister Netanyahu and his right-wing coalition can stay in office amid the regional crisis.

In context: these elections shape not only each country's domestic politics but also global alliances and the world economy.

Sources incl.: Al Jazeera, CFR, Statista. Symbolic image, CC BY-SA 4.0.