Your country, your vote – a rough guide to global voter restrictions | International Consortium of Investigative Journalists

Your country, your vote – a rough guide to global voter restrictions | International Consortium of Investigative Journalists

The controversy over America’s restrictive voting laws – which supporters describe as necessary to prevent fraud and ensure uniformity among different regions – raised a question that is global in scope. We at ICIJ wanted to know:  how restrictive are voting requirements in nations around the world?  

To answer the question, ICIJ compared data in three areas that play a key role in the relative ease of voting. We examined the strictness of voting and registration ID requirements, whether voter registration is automatic or must actively be pursued by citizens, and whether certain groups such as felons and citizens with mental disabilities are prohibited from voting. The data covers between 65 and 234 countries, with the number of countries included varying by category.