Extreme Weather Has Disrupted 94 Elections in 52 Countries Over Two Decades

A report by International IDEA released on 22 April 2026 documents that at least 94 elections in 52 countries have been disrupted by extreme weather events over the past two decades, with 23 elections across 18 countries impacted in 2024 alone. In India, extreme weather was recorded on 331 days or over 99 per cent of days between January and November 2025, making election resilience planning an urgent governance priority.

As voting began in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal on 23 April 2026, an intense heatwave caused at least four reported deaths in West Bengal, while Kerala's 9 April 2026 Assembly elections took place amid an unusually early and humid summer. During the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, temperatures crossed 45°C in several regions and at least 33 polling officials in Uttar Pradesh reportedly died of heat-related causes on the final voting day. An election officer in Odisha documented how extreme heat in Kalahandi claimed the lives of several presiding officers, and a constituency in Odisha had its vote postponed in 2019 due to Cyclone Fani.

Globally, tropical storms and floods account for 67 per cent of all extreme weather cases affecting elections recorded in the Election Emergency and Crisis Monitor, followed by heatwaves at 9 per cent and earthquakes and wildfires at 7 per cent each. Between 2006 and 2025, natural disasters were severe enough to delay at least 26 elections and referendums. Studies by World Weather Attribution have linked at least 10 extreme weather events during 2024 election periods to climate change, including heatwaves affecting elections in India, the Maldives and Mexico and flooding disrupting polls in Austria, Czechia and Brazil.

The report recommends that elections be formally integrated into national climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction plans as critical infrastructure. It calls for stronger coordination between electoral management bodies and meteorological, environmental and disaster relief agencies, and for early warning systems to be embedded in electoral planning processes. International IDEA's Secretary-General Kevin Casas-Zamora emphasised that unless countries address root causes by reducing carbon emissions, extreme weather will become more frequent and intense regardless of emergency preparation quality.

Key figure — 331 days of extreme weather recorded in India between January and November 2025