Election campaigns at their longest

Source: Flickr-Turkey election campaigns on land – 2 _ Hsing Wei _ Flickr

Different countries have different methods of holding elections. Read about some of the longest election campaign periods in the world.

Today, almost every other country has become a democracy and embraced the idea of selecting our leaders. Part of this whole selection process are election campaigns which have become a critical aspect. These allow election candidates to present themselves, engage with their voters, and influence the outcome of the election.

Each country offers a specific time period for this purpose and the length of time allocated varies significantly from one country to another. There are many countries which have extremely long election campaigns while many others have quite short ones.

Why a specific length?

The time period allotted by different countries can be influenced by several key factors:

It might be so because it has always been that way. The most common reason why specific length is dedicated for this purpose can be because of historical practices which evolved overtime to the current choice.
If not for history, a specific time period can be determined after looking at the legal and constitutional framework of a country. If we take the example of France, we see that the strict regulation of campaign periods there is that way because the electoral law wants to ensure that the campaigns are going to be fair and equal for all candidates.
A reason why all of these are different can be explained by using the above point as well. Since you are talking about the legal and constitutional framework of every country, we should also take note of the fact that every country has a different political landscape. Hence, different countries are going to prioritize different values during these periods and will allot different lengths for their respective campaign periods.
Other than all of these, other factors which must be kept in mind are the size, complexity, and financial capability of a country to hold elections. In countries like India, which are large and diverse, a long campaign period is necessary in order to reach all voters effectively, in comparison to smaller countries where this can be done much sooner. Similarly, countries which are not so well off, in regards to financial stability, will also choose to have shorter campaign periods to ensure they don’t spend too much.

United States

The country which is known for holding the longest selection campaigns is the United States where these campaign periods can go on for months or even years. Currently, Kamala Harris is reportedly holding one of the shortest campaign periods in US presidential election history, but her record is still much longer than what politicians in other countries get.

An example of this is that of former President Donald J. Trump who had launched his re-election bid in November 2022, which is 2 years the head of the vote happening in 2024. One other lengthy national election campaign in the states was started by Ted Cruz, in the 2016 elections, where he campaigned for 596 days.

According to experts, the reason behind such prolonged campaigning is that candidates want to get it done with and secure their party’ nomination before moving on to the general election. So, while they get to engage with the voters more and debate it out, voters often feel fatigue.

United Kingdom

In stark contrast to the US election campaign period, is the official campaign period of the United Kingdom which is wrapped up in around 5 to 6 weeks. Since, they get only 6 weeks’ worth of time to ensure that their win, leaders of Britain’s political parties quickly make their way throughout the UK on campaign “battle buses” which take them to as many constituencies as they can, in order to persuade the voters.

Other than this, there is also a stark difference between the money spent on election campaigning in both the countries. While the parties in the US reportedly spend millions of dollars in their campaigning periods, there are strict regulations on the spending limits in the UK.

The primary reason behind the shorter campaign period is that the election commission wants to ensure that the elections remain focused and the voters do not feel overwhelmed because of the extended campaigning.

France

France has an even shorter official campaign period- with two weeks being given before the first round of voting and an additional two weeks before the second round if the need arises. So, all things considered, officially the election campaign period in France doesn’t last for more than four weeks.

The French electoral commission believes that a brief campaign period can provide a level playing field for all candidates and ensure that everyone has equal access to media as well as public attention. It also helps them regulate the money being spent on the campaigning and prevents financial burden.

India

India also has brief campaigning periods which usually last 3 to 4 weeks. The current prime minister of India, Narendra Modi, was elected in 2024 and his campaigning period had a span of just 33 days. If we look at the whole electing process in India properly, we will find that the election campaigns and the voting period are lengthy because of how big the country is.

The campaigning is accompanied by mandatory Blackout periods which are initiated 48 hours before the elections. These are a necessity and happen at all costs.

Japan

In this list of long election campaigns, Japan stands out from the rest because of how short the campaigning period here is. The current prime minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida, campaigned for only 12 days! This is so phenomenal if you compare it to a country like the US, or even, India.

The short campaigning period reflects the fact that Japanese electoral commission wants to focus on reducing the election cost and minimizing the impact of long-term political polarization in the country.

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