Key dates for elections covering more than 40% global population
Of note: In 2024, more than 40% of the global population is expected to vote in more than 50 national elections, including in the world’s two largest democracies: India and the United States. They have a combined population of around 3 billion and around 40% of the world’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). All nations will be watching the outcome of U.S. elections, which will shape international relations and key policy issues ahead.
Jan. 10: Republican presidential primary debate in Iowa, hosted by CNN.
Jan. 13: Taiwan presidential election. A likely win by William Lai of the Democratic Progressive Party would spur Chinese retaliation. Chinese President Xi Jinping has already made his thoughts clear about this in his New Year’s Eve address, talking about the “historical inevitability” of “reunification.”
Jan. 15: Iowa GOP caucuses, which will award 40 delegates.
Jan. 19: U.S. gov’t funding deadline (part 1): The government could face its first shutdown of the year. The first of two government spending deadlines, when Congress must approve funding for the Departments of Agriculture, Transportation, Energy, Veterans Affairs, Housing and Urban Development and the Food and Drug Administration.
Jan. 21: Republican presidential primary debate in New Hampshire, hosted by CNN.
Jan. 23: New Hampshire primary for both parties. Republicans will receive 22 delegates. President Biden removed his name from the ballot because the state ignored Democratic Party rules that chose South Carolina as the party’s first primary.
Jan. 31: Next Federal Open Market Committee meeting: The FOMC, the monetary policy-making arm of the Federal Reserve, will decide at the end of January what to do about interest rates. Most say the FOMC will keep interest rates steady.
Jan. 31: Campaign finance filing deadline for presidential, Senate and House campaigns to reveal how much they raised in October, November and December, and how much cash they had on hand on Dec. 31.
Feb. 2: U.S. gov’t funding deadline (part 2): Even if Congress avoids a shutdown in January, another looming spending deadline could freeze the government in February. Money for the Defense Department and most of the federal agencies will have to be passed by midnight — besides the January spending deadlines — to avoid a gov’t shutdown after Congress passed a two-tiered temporary spending bill last November.
Feb. 3: South Carolina Democratic primary: The Democratic National Committee placed their first primary of the 2024 season in South Carolina this year, shaking up the traditional order. This will mark the first time President Joe Biden’s name will actually appear on a ballot this year.
Feb. 6: Nevada presidential primary for both parties. Nikki Haley is the only GOP candidate to participate in the primary, which will award zero delegates because the Nevada GOP decided to hold a caucus on Feb. 8.
Feb. 8: Nevada caucuses: The Nevada Republican Party will host their presidential preference caucuses two days after the state-run primary — and has vowed to exclude any candidates who appear on the state primary ballot. Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former New Jersey governor Chris Christie and Vivek Ramaswamy will participate in the Nevada state GOP-run caucuses.
Feb. 8, 11: Colorado voters have asked the Supreme Court to decide Trump’s eligibility for the ballot by Feb. 11, the day before Colorado will begin to mail ballots to voters. The state Supreme Court removed Trump from the ballot because of the insurrection clause in the 14th amendment. The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hold oral arguments on Feb. 8, following the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling that temporarily stayed the decision until Jan. 4, pending further appellate proceedings. Per the Associated Press, that means the court’s final ruling on the matter could drop before Super Tuesday — when Colorado primary voters take to the polls.
Feb. 13: New York special election to fill the seat of ousted Republican congressman George Santos.
Feb. 14: General elections are scheduled to be held in Indonesia to elect the President, Vice President, People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) which consists of the DPR and the DPD, and members of local legislative bodies. The newly elected members of the MPR will be sworn in on Oct. 1, 2024, while the elected President and Vice President will be sworn in on Oct. 20, 2024. Incumbent President Joko Widodo is ineligible to run for a third term due to the term limits established by the Indonesian constitution.
Feb. 24: South Carolina Republican primary in the fourth Republican presidential nominating state, which will award 50 delegates.
Feb. 27: Michigan presidential primary for both parties. But the state’s move of the primary before March 1 violates Republican Party rules. As a compromise, 16 of the 55 delegates Republican delegates will be awarded based on the primary results. The rest will be awarded at the Michigan GOP’s convention on March 2.
March 2: Michigan state GOP convention, which will determine the state’s presidential nominee and will award the remaining 39 GOP delegates.
March 4: Trump trial date, District of Columbia: Current trial date in the federal case alleging that Donald Trump plotted to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Special counsel Jack Smith will attempt to prove that the events of Jan. 6, 2021, were “exactly what Trump intended to happen.” While this date is what’s on the schedule, it has been imperiled by Trump’s team’s claims of immunity from prosecution, which are currently being litigated. This trial date will likely move.
March 5: Super Tuesday. Fifteen states and American Samoa will head to the polls for the biggest one-day allocation of delegates — 1,215 — in the Republican presidential contest. The states include Maine and Colorado, two states that have ruled Trump ineligible to be on the ballot. The other states are: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont and Virginia.
March 5: California Senate primary to fill the seat of the late senator Dianne Feinstein. Democratic Reps. Adam B. Schiff, Katie Porter and Barbara Lee are running for the top two spots in the state’s jungle primary system to advance to the general election in November.
March 7: State of the Union address by President Joe Biden.
March 17: Russian President Vladimir Putin will remain firmly in power following a March election with little room for participation by dissenters.
March 19: The special primary election to replace former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), Gov. Gavin Newsom announced, giving Republican hopefuls a longer-than-expected window to mount a campaign for the solidly red seat. The special election will be on May 21.
March 19: Florida primary: There are 125 delegates at stake in Florida, and combined with contests in Arizona, Illinois, Kansas and Ohio on the same day, the full count of delegates available by March 19 will reach 1,680. That’s well above the estimated 1,235 needed to win the GOP nomination — and the Trump campaign has estimated they can secure victory by this date.
March 19: Ohio Republican primary to take on Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio). Last month, Trump endorsed Bernie Moreno, a former car dealer who is running against state Sen. Matt Dolan and Secretary of State Frank LaRose.
March 25: Trump trial date, Manhattan: The scheduled start of Trump’s trial in the case involving alleged hush money payments to Stormy Daniels. The 34-count indictment in the trial accuses Trump of falsifying business records related to cash payments to Daniels before the 2016 election and is being brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office.
March 31: Ukraine’s planned presidential vote is likely to be postponed with the nation currently under martial law.
April-May: India elections. Indians will go to the polls to decide whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party will secure a third term. Polls indicate Modi’s party is likely to win the general elections.
April 8: Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) must decide to run for re-election before Arizona’s filing deadline. If she runs, she is likely to face Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego and Republican Kari Lake in an unpredictable three-person race in November.
May 14: West Virginia Senate primary between Gov. Jim Justice and Rep. Alex Mooney. The winner is all but certain to win the seat with Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) not running for re-election.
May 14: Maryland Senate primary, where Rep. David Trone and Prince George’s County Executive Angela D. Alsobrooks face off. The winner will probably win the seat to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin.
May 20: Trump trial date, Florida: The scheduled start date of Trump’s trial in Florida, related to his alleged seizure of classified documents from the White House. The case, also brought by special counsel Jack Smith, has 37 criminal counts that include conspiracy to obstruct justice, making false statements and violating the Espionage Act. Judge Aileen Cannon rejected Trump’s appeal to move the date of the trial, but left open the possibility of moving the date at a March 1 scheduling conference.
June 2: Mexico’s presidential election. If Claudia Sheinbaum, the ruling party candidate, becomes president, she will maintain many of outgoing Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s policies, but would accelerate green policy programs. If conservative opposition candidate Xochitl Galvez wins, she would advocate great private investment in the energy sector, but would keep existing social programs.
June 4: Montana Senate primary. Tim Sheehy, the National Republican Senatorial Committee’s preferred candidate, could face a tough fight if Rep. Matthew M. Rosendale decides to run in the key pickup seat against Democratic Sen. Jon Tester.
June 4: Voters in New Jersey participate in primary elections where Democrats are vying for the Senate nomination. Gov. Phil Murphy’s wife, Tammy Murphy, is running against Rep. Andy Kim for Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez’s seat after Menendez was indicted in September on corruption charges. (Menendez has pleaded not guilty.)
June 6-9: EU elections. Polls suggest right-wing groups will make major gains in elections for the European Parliament. (Note: The UK economy will be on watch with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promising to call a general election at some point in 2024.)
June 11: The Nevada primary where Republicans will choose their nominee to take on Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen. Washington Republicans are backing Sam Brown, an Army veteran, but he’s facing a competitive primary.
July 15-18: Republican National Convention, Milwaukee.
July 26-August 11: Summer Olympics, Paris.
Aug. 5: Trump trial date, Georgia: The date that prosecutors in Georgia have proposed for the start of Trump’s trial concerning 2020 election interference there. According to a court filing from Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, the date takes into account potential delays from his other legal troubles. Willis has said it’s distinctly possible their trial will run past Election Day and potentially into 2025.
Aug. 6: The Michigan Senate primary. The Republican primary to replace retiring Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D) is crowded, with former congressman Mike Rogers — Washington Republicans’ preferred candidate — running against Peter Meijer, the one-term congressman who lost his seat in 2022 after voting to impeach Trump, and James Craig, a former Detroit police chief and outspoken Trump supporter. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, who is favored to win the Democratic primary, faces the actor Hill Harper.
Aug. 13: Wisconsin Senate primary. Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin is one of Republicans’ top targets as the party seeks to reclaim control of the Senate, but it is unclear who their nominee will be. If Madison businessman Eric Hovde decides to run, he could face a competitive primary.
Aug. 19-22: Democratic National Convention, Chicago.
Sept. 16: First presidential debate: The nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates has announced dates and venues for three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate. Former President Donald Trump and the RNC have said they will not participate in any debates conducted by the commission, which has sponsored the general election presidential debates in every election since 1988. However, other reports note that Trump will consider debates.
Sept. 25: Vice presidential debate.
Oct. 1: Second presidential debate.
Oct. 9: Third presidential debate.
Nov. 5: Election Day.
December: Venezuela heads to the polls for a predictable election outcome as the country gears up for battle with energy-rich Guyana.