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View all search resultsElection (law) matters
In Brazil, freshly-energized voters turned out in droves in the second round of presidential elections earlier this month to reelect left-wing politician Lula da Silva for a non-consecutive fourth term, delivering a blow to far-right candidate Flavio Bolsonaro.
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President Prabowo Subianto stands at a voting booth for the 2024 regional elections on Nov. 27, 2024, at a polling station in Bojong Koneng village, Bogor regency, West Java. Indonesia is holding simultaneous elections in 37 provinces and more than 500 cities and regencies across the country to elect new regional heads. (Antara/Hafidz Mubarak A.)
E
lections the world over seem to be under siege right now, yet at the same time free and fair balloting now plays a more pivotal role in effecting social and political change.
In Brazil, freshly-energized voters turned out in droves in the second round of presidential elections earlier this month to reelect left-wing politician Lula da Silva for a non-consecutive fourth term, delivering a blow to far-right candidate Flavio Bolsonaro.
In Israel, Palestinian-Israeli voters showed up in record numbers to help Arab Parties win a significant political bloc in the Israeli parliament, thwarting incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan for an easy path to another term.
On Tuesday, voters in battleground states like Ohio and Texas are expected to cast their ballots in a midterm election that could bring the Democratic Party back to control the House of Representatives if not the United States Senate and bring order to President Donald Trump's erratic second term.
Yet in each one of these elections, the odds are stacked against election organizers. From the massive deployment of AI chatbots, the use of deepfakes to the unleashing of a coordinated messaging campaign on social media, bad actors are now resorting to more ways to prevent the organizing of a free and fair election.
While the deployment of technology to influence voters' behaviors happens in the background, some politicians make no effort to hide the use of old-school tactics to sway the outcome of an election. From gerrymandering, making voter ID mandatory to outright bullying tactics, incumbent governments have attempted to rig the election in their favor.
For years now, politicians in Indonesia have mastered the dark art of protecting their incumbency.
