in 2014, which country held the largest democratic election in human history? course hero

India

A vendor wears a mask of Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi, prime ministerial candidate for BJP. Photograph: Reuters/Babu Photograph: BABU/REUTERS

Afghanistan

Supporters of presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah wait outside a stadium to catch a glimpse of him leaving his campaign rally in the northwestern city of Herat. Photograph: Behrouz Mehri/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP/Getty Images

Indonesia

Supporters of the Prosperous Justice party (PKS) attend a campaign rally. Photograph: Juni Kriswanto/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: JUNI KRISWANTO/AFP/Getty Images

Hungary

Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán delivering his state of the nation address in front of party members. Photograph: Attila Kisbenedek/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: ATTILA KISBENEDEK/AFP/Getty Images

Algeria

Supporters of Abdelaziz Bouteflika in Tamanrasset, south of Algiers. Photograph: Louafi Larbi/Reuters Photograph: LOUAFI LARBI/REUTERS

Iraq

Iraqis walks past an electoral campaign poster showing candidate Mohammed Abed Qathem al-Okeili running on the list of Iraqi PM Nuri al-Maliki. Photograph: Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images

What was the election of 2014?

Democratic hold Republican hold. Democratic gain Republican gain. Independent gain. The 2014 United States elections were held on Tuesday, November 4, 2014, in the middle of Democratic President Barack Obama 's second term. Republicans retained control of the House of Representatives and won control of the Senate .

What were the issues in the 2014 election?

Major issues of the election included income inequality, and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (commonly referred to as "Obamacare"), which Republicans sought to repeal. Democrats promoted their proposal to increase the minimum wage. In the weeks prior to the 2014 election, Republicans harshly criticized the Obama administration for its handling of the 2013-2016 ebola virus outbreak in Western Africa (which resulted in two deaths in the United States). However, immediately after the election, Republicans dropped Ebola as an issue. 2016 and 2020 studies found that Republican rhetoric on Ebola may have helped Republican candidates in the 2014 election.

How much did the midterm elections cost?

Various other state, territorial, and local elections and referenda were held throughout the year. With total spending reaching $3.7 billion, the midterm election, at the time, was the most expensive in history, being surpassed by the 2018 midterm election four years later.

How many Senate seats did Republicans win?

Republicans won a net gain of nine Senate seats, the largest Senate gain for either party since the 1980 United States elections. In the House, Republicans won a net gain of thirteen seats, giving them their largest majority since the onset of the Great Depression. In state elections, Republicans won a net gain of two seats and flipped control ...

How many seats did the Republican Party win in 1928?

The Republican party won 247 seats (a net gain of 13 seats) and the Democratic Party, 188 seats. Thus, the Republicans gained their largest majority in the House since 1928. Nationwide, Republicans won the popular vote for the House of Representatives by a margin of 5.7 percent.

How many seats did the Republican Party win in the House of Representatives?

territories. The only seat in the House not up for election was the Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico, who serves a four-year term. The Republican party won 247 seats (a net gain of 13 seats) and the Democratic Party, 188 seats. Thus, the Republicans gained their largest majority in the House since 1928. Nationwide, Republicans won the popular vote for the House of Representatives by a margin of 5.7 percent.

What was the voter turnout in 2010?

Nationwide voter turnout was 36.4% , down from 40.9% in the 2010 midterms and the lowest since the 1942 elections, when just 33.9% of voters turned out, though that election came during the middle of World War II.

Indians really rocked the vote

At 65.85%, the overall voter turnout was the highest ever recorded by India in the 16 general elections held since 1951. The previous highest was 63.56% in 1984. In the previous elections, held in 2009, voter turnout was 58.19%. In absolute numbers, 537 million Indians cast their vote this time around.

Urban voters got off their high horses

Traditionally, the relatively well-off, educated, urban voter has demonstrated a reluctance to participate in the electoral process. This election saw change in the right direction.

A decline in turnout was the exception

Of the 35 states and union territories that make up India, 31 saw an increase over 2009 turnout. The exceptions were Manipur, Sikkim, Nagaland, and Tripura, which have a combined six seats; three of these states are way above the 2014 national average and were only slipping marginally from their 2009 highs.

Big states registered big increases

Of the 477 constituencies that registered an increase in voter turnout, the magnitude in as many as 209 was 10 percentage points or more over the previous elections. Of these, 152 belonged to six states that account for 45% of the Indian Parliament: Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh.

A former Communist bastion leads all big states

The eastern-most part of India recorded the highest turnouts, accounting for five of the top 10 states. The only big state among them was West Bengal, a Communist bastion till 2011. The state recorded an average turnout of 81.4% and accounted for as many as 14 of the top 20 constituency turnouts.

States with high stakes recorded high turnouts

In three states, which are at pivotal points for different sets of reasons, voter turnout was brisk and left a mark. The first was Andhra Pradesh (74.4%), which is currently in the process of being split into two.

How much did the election cost in India?

The election was the longest and the most expensive general election in the history of the country, with the Election Commission of India estimating that the election did cost the exchequer ₹ 3500 crore ( US$ 577 million), excluding the expenses incurred for security and by the individual political parties.

What is the limit of expenditure for elections in India?

The Cabinet of India revised the limit of election expenditure by a candidate for parliamentary constituencies to ₹7 million (US$98,000) in bigger states and to ₹5.4 million (US$76,000) in smaller states and all union territories except Delhi. This revision of the ceiling on the elections were attributed to the increase in the number of electors and polling stations as well as the increase in the cost inflation index.

What was the BJP's manifesto?

The party promised to set up a Price Stabilization Fund and to evolve a single 'National Agriculture Market' to check price rise and go for e-Governance, policy-driven governance and simplification of the tax regime to prevent corruption. It wanted to encourage labour-intensive manufacturing, focus on traditional employment bases of agriculture, the upgrade of infrastructure and housing and self-employment opportunities for job creation. Harnessing satellite technology; setting up National Optical-Fibre Network up to the village level; Diamond Quadrilateral project – of High Speed Train network were among several other things that the party promised. The Himachal Pradesh BJP attacked the UPA's "one rank, one pension" scheme as an "election stunt," according to the convenor of the BJP's ex-servicemen cell, Brigadier (Retired) Lal Chand Jaswal. The move followed the BJP raising the issue in the previous years and Modi's announcement at an ex-servicemen's rally at Rewari on 15 September 2013 and at Sujanpur on 17 February. Modi also criticised the INC and Rahul Gandhi for giving a ticket to former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan despite his indictment in the Adarsh Housing Society scam in Mumbai. He further criticised Gandhi's comments about his governance of Gujarat at rally in Bijapur. At a rally in Gurgaon, Haryana, part of the wider National Capital Region, Modi said: "People gave ruling Congress 60 years, I just need 60 months to prove that the BJP is the best option for India" and alleged that the INC was protecting Robert Vadra, the son-in-law of Sonia Gandhi, after he was said to have "sold farmers land" and made money. "Robert Vadra's empty bank account was credited with $8.30m (Rs 500 million) in just three months. BJP wants answers". He also criticised the INC's Nandan Nilekani as he had "squandered crores of rupees in giving a unique identity ( Aadhaar) to millions of people, which even the Supreme Court questioned, as it did not address the security concerns".

How many registered voters did Narendra Modi have?

Narendra Modi. BJP. General elections were held in India in nine phases from 7 April to 12 May 2014 to elect the members of the 16th Lok Sabha. With 834 million registered voters, they were the largest-ever elections in the world until being surpassed by the 2019 elections.

How many voting machines are there in India?

In total there were 1.4 million electronic voting machines in 930,000 voting centres. The voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) system which enables EVM to record each vote cast by generating the EVM slip, was introduced in 8 constituencies of Lucknow, Gandhinagar, Bangalore South, Chennai Central, Jadavpur, Raipur, Patna Sahib and Mizoram as a pilot project. Also, Braille ballot sheets for the blind were arranged at polling stations. The scale of the election required 1.1 million of civil servants and 5.5 million civilian employees to handle the election. It was the first election that had the " none of the above " option and allowed Non-Resident Indians to vote; though only in India. Security was increased during the election, particularly as the Communist Party of India (Maoist) (CPI (Maoist)) called for a boycott of the election. On 12 April, even though there was no voting this day, a vehicle in Chhattisgarh hit a CPI (Maoist) landmine resulting in the deaths of two bus drivers and five election officials, with four more injured, while travelling from Kutru to Bijapur in preparation for the fifth phase of voting. On the same day, within an hour, they also ambushed a vehicle resulting in the deaths of five paramilitary soldiers in the Darbha forest. The election was the longest and the most expensive general election in the history of the country, with the Election Commission of India estimating that the election did cost the exchequer ₹ 3500 crore ( US$ 577 million), excluding the expenses incurred for security and by the individual political parties. Parties were expected to spend ₹ 30,500 crore ( US$ 5 billion) in the election, according to the Centre for Media Studies. This was three times the amount spent in the previous election in 2009, and was then the world's second highest after the US$ 7 billion spent on the 2012 US presidential election.

How many seats did the INC win?

The INC received 19.3% of the vote and won only 44 seats, with its wider alliance, the United Progressive Alliance, winning a total of just 59. In order to become the official opposition party in India, a party must have 55 seats; as a result, there was no official opposition party.

When did the exit polls end in India?

This was intended to prevent exit polls from earlier phases affecting voter decisions in later phases. The ban ended after the close of Phase 9 voting at 6:30pm IST on 12 May 2014.

Overview

Issues

Federal elections

• Date: 9 April (parliamentary), July (presidential) Number of voters:186.5 million Frontrunner:opposition Indonesian Democratic party (PDI-P) of presidential favourite, Joko Widodo Free and fair factor:four Biggest anxiety:election-related violence has troubled the province of Aceh recently What it means for the world:Indonesia is the world’s third ...

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State elections

Local elections

Turnout

Controversies and other issues

Milestones