Elections by country

Further information: Election

For each de jure and de facto sovereign state and dependent territory an article on elections in that entity has been included and information on the way the head of state, head of government, and the legislature is selected. Merged cells for "head of state" and "head of government" indicate the office is the same for that country; merged cells for "lower house" and "upper house" indicate a unicameral legislature. The linked articles include the results of the elections. For a chronological order, see the electoral calendar.

Contents: 

• A
• B
• C
• D
• E
• F
• G
• H
• I
• J
• K
• L
• M
• N
• O
• P
• Q
• R
• S
• T
• U
• V
• W
• Y
• Z

A

	Country	Head of state	Head of government	Legislature
				Lower house	Upper house
	Abkhazia	Direct election[1]		Direct election[1]
	Afghanistan	Autocrat elected by legislature[2][3][4]	Appointment by autocrat[2]	Appointment by autocrat[5]
	Åland	Finnish President	Election by legislature	Direct election
	Albania	Election by legislature[6]	Election by legislature[6]	Direct election[6]
	Algeria	Direct election[7]	Election by legislature[7]	Direct election[7]	Partially elected by electoral college, rest appointed by President[7]
	American Samoa	US President[8]	Direct election[8]	Direct election[8]	Election by regional governing councils[8]
	Andorra	The French President and the Bishop of Urgell are co-heads of state[9]	Election by legislature[9]	Direct election[9]
	Angola	Election by legislature[10]		Direct election[10]
	Anguilla	British Monarchy[11]	Election by legislature[11]	Direct election and appointments[11]
	Antigua and Barbuda	Monarchy[12]	Election by legislature[12]	Direct election[12]	Appointments[12]
	Argentina	Direct election[13]		Direct election[13]
	Armenia	Election by Legislature	Election by Legislature	Direct election [14]
	Aruba	Dutch Monarchy[15]	Election by legislature[15]	Direct election[15]
	Australia	Monarchy[16]	Election by legislature[16]	Direct election[16]
	Austria	Direct election[17]	Election by legislature[17]	Direct election[17]	Indirect election[17]
	Azerbaijan	Direct election[18]	Appointment by president[18]	Direct election[18]

B

	Country	Head of state	Head of government	Legislature
				Lower house	Upper house
	Bahamas	Monarchy[19]	Election by legislature[19]	Direct election[19]	Appointments[19]
	Bahrain	Monarchy[20]	Appointment by monarch[20]	Direct election[20]	Appointments[20]
	Bangladesh	Election by legislature[21]	Election by legislature[21]	Direct and indirect election[21]
	Barbados	Election by legislature[22]	Election by legislature[21]	Direct election[22]	Appointments[22]
	Belarus	Direct election[23]	Appointment by president[23]	Direct election[23]	Indirect election and appointments[23]
	Belgium	Monarchy[24]	Election by legislature[24]	Direct election[24]	Indirect election[24]
	Belize	Monarchy[25]	Election by legislature[25]	Direct election[25]	Appointments[25]
	Benin	Direct election[26]		Direct election[26]
	Bermuda	British Monarchy[27]	Election by legislature[27]	Direct election[27]	Appointments[27]
	Bhutan	Monarchy[28]	Elected by legislature[28]	Direct election[28]	Direct election and appointments[28]
	Bolivia	Direct election[29]		Direct election[29]
	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Rotating presidency of directly elected candidates[30]	Appointment by head of state[30]	Direct election[30]	Indirect election[30]
	Botswana	Election by legislature[31]		Direct election[31]	Hereditary and appointments[31]
	Brazil	Direct election[32]		Direct election[32]	Direct election[32]
	British Virgin Islands	British Monarchy[33]	Election by legislature[33]	Direct election[33]
	Brunei	Monarchy[34]		Appointments by head of state[34]
	Bulgaria	Direct election[35]	Election by legislature[35]	Direct election[35]
	Burkina Faso	Direct election[36]	Appointment by president[36]	Direct election[36]
	Burma see Myanmar
	Burundi	Direct election[37]		Direct election and co-option[37]	Indirect election[37]

C

	Country	Head of state	Head of government	Legislature
				Lower house	Upper house
	Cabo Verde see Cape Verde
	Cambodia	Monarch elected by Royal Council[38]	Election by lower house of legislature[38]	Direct election[38]	Indirect election and appointments[38]
	Cameroon	Direct election[39]	Appointment by president[39]	Direct election[39]	Indirect election and appointments[39]
	Canada	Monarchy[40]	Election by lower house of legislature[40]	Direct election[40]	Appointments[40]
	Cape Verde	Direct election[41]	Appointment by president[41]	Direct election[41]
	Cayman Islands	British Monarchy[42]	Election by legislature[42]	Direct election and appointments[42]
	Central African Republic	Direct election[43]	Appointment by president[44]	Direct election[43]
	Chad	Direct election[45]	Appointment by president[45]	Direct election[45]
	Chile	Direct election[46]		Direct election[46]
	China	Election by legislature[47]	Appointment by head of state[47]	Indirect election[47]
	Colombia	Direct election[48]		Direct election[48]	Direct election[48]
	Comoros	Direct election[49]		Direct and indirect election[49]
	Congo (Brazzaville) see Republic of the Congo
	Congo (Kinshasa) see Democratic Republic of the Congo
	Cook Islands	New Zealand Monarchy[50]	Election by legislature[50]	Direct election[50]
	Costa Rica	Direct election[51]		Direct election[51]
	Côte d'Ivoire	Direct election[52]	Appointment by president[52]	Direct election[52]
	Croatia	Direct election[53]	Election by legislature[53]	Direct election[53]
	Cuba	Election by legislature[54]		Direct election[54]
	Curaçao	Dutch Monarchy[55]	Election by legislature[55]	Direct election[55]
	Cyprus	Direct election[56]		Direct election[56]
	Czech Republic	Direct election[57]	Appointment by president[57]	Direct election[57]

D

	Country	Head of state	Head of government	Legislature
				Lower house	Upper house
	Democratic Republic of the Congo	Direct election[58]	Appointment by president[58]	Direct election[58]	Indirect election[58]
	Denmark	Monarchy[59]	Election by legislature[59]	Direct election[59]
	Djibouti	Direct election[60]	Appointment by president[60]	Direct election[60]
	Dominica	Election by legislature[61]	Appointment by president[61]	Direct election and appointments[61]
	Dominican Republic	Direct election[62]		Direct election[62]

E

	Country	Head of state	Head of government	Legislature
				Lower house	Upper house
	Ecuador	Direct election[63]		Direct election[63]
	Egypt	Direct election[64]	Appointment by president[64]	Direct election and appointments[64]
	El Salvador	Direct election[65]		Direct election[65]
	Equatorial Guinea	Direct election[66]	Appointment by president[66]	Direct election[66]	Direct election and appointments[66]
	Eritrea	Election by legislature[67]		Direct and indirect election[67]
	Estonia	Election by legislature and/or electoral college[68]	Appointment by president[68]	Direct election[68]
	Eswatini	Monarchy[69]	Appointment by monarch[69]	Election by traditional local councils and appointments[69]	Election by lower house and appointments[69]
	Ethiopia	Election by legislature[70]	Election by legislature[70]	Direct election[70]	Indirect election[70]

F

	Country	Head of state	Head of government	Legislature
				Lower house	Upper house
	Falkland Islands	British Monarchy[71]	Election by legislature[71]	Direct election and appointments[71]
	Faroe Islands	Danish Monarchy[72]	Election by legislature[72]	Direct election[72]
	Federated States of Micronesia see Micronesia
	Fiji	Election by legislature[73]	Appointment by president[73]	Direct election[73]
	Finland	Direct election[74]	Election by legislature[74]	Direct election[74]
	France	Direct election[75]	Appointment by president[75]	Direct election[75]	Indirect election[75]
	French Polynesia	French President[76]	Election by legislature[76]	Direct election[76]

G

	Country	Head of state	Head of government	Legislature
				Lower house	Upper house
	Gabon	Direct election[77]	Appointment by president[77]	Direct election[77]	Indirect election[77]
	Gambia	Direct election[78]		Direct election and appointments[78]
	Georgia	Direct election[79]	Election by legislature[79]	Direct election[79]
	Germany	Election by electoral college[80]	Election by legislature[80]	Direct election[80]	Representation of State Governments[80]
	Ghana	Direct election[81]		Direct election[81]
	Gibraltar	British Monarchy[82]	Election by legislature[82]	Direct and indirect election[82]
	Greece	Election by legislature[83]	Election by legislature[83]	Direct election[83]
	Greenland	Danish Monarchy[84]	Election by legislature[84]	Direct election[84]
	Grenada	Monarchy[85]	Election by legislature[85]	Direct election[85]	Appointment[85]
	Guam	US President[86]	Direct election[86]	Direct election[86]
	Guatemala	Direct election[87]		Direct election[87]
	Guernsey	British Monarchy[88]	Election by legislature[88]	Direct election[88]
	Guinea	Direct election[89]	Appointment by president[89]	Direct election[89]
	Guinea-Bissau	Direct election[90]	Appointment by president[90]	Direct election[90]
	Guyana	Election by legislature[91]		Direct election[91]

H

	Country	Head of state	Head of government	Legislature
				Lower house	Upper house
	Haiti	Direct election[92]	Appointment by president[93]	Direct election[92]
	Honduras	Direct election[94]		Direct election[94]
	Hong Kong	Election by election committee followed by appointment by state council[95]	Election by election committee followed by appointment by state council[95]	Direct election and indirect election[95]
	Holy See see Vatican City
	Hungary	Election by legislature[96]	Election by legislature[96]	Direct election[96]

I

	Country	Head of state	Head of government	Legislature
				Lower house	Upper house
	Iceland	Direct election[97]	Election by legislature[97]	Direct election[97][98]
	India	Election by electoral college[99]	Election by legislature[99]	Direct election[99]	Indirect election[99]
	Indonesia	Direct election[100]		Direct election[100]
	Iran	Election by Assembly of Experts[101]	Direct election[101]	Direct election and appointment[101]
	Iraq	Election by legislature[102]	Election by legislature[102]	Direct election[102]
	Ireland	Direct election[103]	Election by lower house of legislature[103]	Direct election[103]	Election by functional constituencies and appointment[103]
	Isle of Man	British Monarchy[104]	Election by legislature[104]	Direct election[104]	Indirect election/ex officio[104]
	Israel	Election by legislature[105]	Appointment by president[106]	Direct election[105]
	Italy	Election by legislature[107]	Appointment by president[107]	Direct election[107]

J

	Country	Head of state	Head of government	Legislature
				Lower house	Upper house
	Jamaica	Monarchy[108]	Election by lower house of legislature[108]	Direct election[108]	Appointment[108]
	Japan	Monarchy[109]	Election by lower house of legislature[109]	Direct election[109]
	Jersey	Monarchy[110]	Election by legislature[110]	Direct election[110]
	Jordan	Monarchy[111]	Appointment by monarch[111]	Direct election[111]	Appointment by monarch[111]

K

	Country	Head of state	Head of government	Legislature
				Lower house	Upper house
	Kazakhstan	Direct election[112]	Appointment by president[112]	Direct and indirect election[112]	Indirect election and appointments[112]
	Kenya	Direct election[113]		Direct election and appointments[113]	Direct election[113]
	Kiribati	Direct election[114]		Direct election and appointments[114]
	Korea, North see North Korea
	Korea, South see South Korea
	Kosovo	Election by legislature[115]	Election by legislature[115]	Direct election[115]
	Kuwait	Monarchy[116]	Appointment by monarch[116]	Direct election and appointments[116]
	Kyrgyzstan	Direct election[117]	Election by legislature[117]	Direct election[117]

L

	Country	Head of state	Head of government	Legislature
				Lower house	Upper house
	Laos	Election by legislature[118]	Election by legislature[118]	Direct election[118]
	Latvia	Election by legislature[119]	Appointment by president[119]	Direct election[119]
	Lebanon	Election by legislature[120]	Appointment by president[120]	Direct election[120]
	Lesotho	Monarchy[121]	Election by lower house of legislature[121]	Direct election[121]	Appointments[121]
	Liberia	Direct election[122]		Direct election[122]	Direct election[122]
	Libya	Head of Presidential Council[123]		Direct election[124]
	Liechtenstein	Monarchy[125]	Election by legislature[125]	Direct election[125]
	Lithuania	Direct election[126]	Appointment by president[126]	Direct election[126]
	Luxembourg	Monarchy[127]	Election by legislature[127]	Direct election[127]

M

	Country	Head of state	Head of government	Legislature
				Lower house	Upper house
	Macau	Election by election committee[128]	Election by election committee[128]	Direct election, indirect election, and appointments[128]
	Madagascar	Direct election[129]	Election by lower house of legislature[129]	Direct election[129]	Indirect election and appointments[129]
	Malawi	Direct election[130]		Direct election[130]
	Malaysia	Monarch who is elected by the rulers of the Malay States[131]	Election by lower house of legislature[131]	Direct election[131]	Indirect election and appointments[131]
	Maldives	Direct election[132]		Direct election[132]
	Mali	Direct election[133]	Appointment by president[133]	Direct election[133]
	Malta	Election by legislature	Appointment by president	Direct election
	Marshall Islands	Election by legislature		Direct election
	Mauritania	Direct election		Direct election	Indirect election
	Mauritius	Election by legislature		Direct election
	Mexico	Direct election		Direct election	Direct election
	Micronesia	Election by legislature		Direct election
	Moldova	Direct election		Direct election
	Monaco	Monarchy		Direct election
	Mongolia	Direct election		Direct election
	Montenegro	Direct election		Direct election
	Montserrat	British Monarchy[134]	Election by legislature[134]	Direct election[134]
	Morocco	Monarchy	Appointment by monarch	Direct election	Indirect election and election by functional groups
	Mozambique	Direct election		Direct election
	Myanmar	Election by legislature		Direct election and appointments

N

	Country	Head of state	Head of government	Legislature
				Lower house	Upper house
	Nagorno Karabakh	Direct election		Direct election
	Namibia	Direct election[135]		Direct election[135]	Indirect election[135]
	Nauru	Election by legislature[136]		Direct election[136]
	Nepal	Indirect election[137]	Election by legislature[137]	Direct election[137]	Indirect election and appointments[137]
	Netherlands	Monarchy[138]	Election by legislature[138]	Direct election[138]	Indirect election[138]
	New Caledonia	French President[139]	Election by legislature[139]	Indirect election[139]
	New Zealand	Monarchy[140]	Election by legislature[140]	Direct election[140]
	Nicaragua	Direct election[141]		Direct election and ex officio[141]
	Niger	Direct election[142]	Appointment by president[142]	Direct election[142]
	Nigeria	Direct election		Direct election
	Niue	New Zealand Monarchy[143]	Election by legislature[143]	Direct election[143]
	Norfolk Island	Australian Monarchy[144]	Appointment by monarch[144]	Direct election[144]
	North Korea	Elected by legislature[145]		Direct election
	North Macedonia	Direct election[146]	Election by legislature[146]	Direct election[146]
	Northern Cyprus	Direct election		Direct election
	Northern Mariana Islands	US President[147]	Direct election[147]	Direct election[147]
	Norway	Monarchy		Direct election

O

	Country	Head of state	Head of government	Legislature
				Lower house	Upper house
	Oman	Monarchy[148]		Indirect election[148]	Appointments[148]

P

	Country	Head of state	Head of government	Legislature
				Lower house	Upper house
	Pakistan	Election by legislature		Direct election	Indirect election
	Palau	Direct election		Direct election
	Palestine	Direct election		Direct election
	Panama	Direct election		Direct election
	Papua New Guinea	Monarchy[149]	Election by legislature[149]	Direct election[149]
	Paraguay	Direct election		Direct election
	People's Republic of China see China
	Peru	Direct election		Direct election
	Philippines	Direct election		Direct election
	Pitcairn Islands	British Monarchy[150]	Direct election[150]	Direct election and appointment[150]
	Poland	Direct election	Appointment by president	Direct election
	Portugal	Direct election	Appointment by president[151]	Direct election
	Puerto Rico	US President[152]	Direct election[152]	Direct election[152]

Q

	Country	Head of state	Head of government	Legislature
				Lower house	Upper house
	Qatar	Monarchy[153]	Appointed by monarch[153]	Appointed by monarch[153]

R

	Country	Head of state	Head of government	Legislature
				Lower house	Upper house
	Republic of China see Taiwan
	Republic of the Congo	Direct election		Direct election	Indirect election
	Romania	Direct election[154]	Appointed by president[154]	Direct election[154]
	Russia	Direct election		Direct election	Indirect election and appointments
	Rwanda	Direct election[155]	Appointment by president[155]	Direct election and appointments[155]	Indirect election and appointments[155]

S

	Country	Head of state	Head of government	Legislature
				Lower house	Upper house
	Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic	Election by legislature[156]	Appointment by president[157]	Direct election[158]
	Saint Helena	British Monarchy[159]	Appointment by monarch[159]	Direct election and appointments[159]
	Saint Kitts and Nevis	Monarchy[160]	Election by legislature[160]	Direct election and appointments[160]
	Saint Lucia	Monarchy		Direct election	Appointments
	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	French President[161]	Election by legislature[161]	Direct election[161]
	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Monarchy		Direct election and appointments
	Samoa	Election by legislature		Direct election
	San Marino	Election by legislature		Direct election
	São Tomé and Príncipe	Direct election		Direct election
	Saudi Arabia	Monarchy[162]		Appointment by monarch[162]
	Senegal	Direct election		Direct election
	Serbia	Direct election		Direct election
	Seychelles	Direct election		Direct election
	Sierra Leone	Direct election		Direct election
	Singapore	Direct election		Direct election
	Sint Maarten	Dutch Monarchy[163]	Election by legislature[163]	Direct election[163]
	Slovakia	Direct election		Direct election
	Slovenia	Direct election		Direct election	Representation of interest groups
	Solomon Islands	Monarchy[164]	Election by legislature[164]	Direct election[164]
	Somalia	Direct election		Transition
	Somaliland	Direct election		Direct election	Traditional leaders
	South Africa	Election by lower house of legislature[165]		Direct election[165]	Indirect election[165]
	South Korea	Direct election		Direct election
	South Ossetia	Direct election		Direct election
	South Sudan	Direct election		Direct election
	Spain	Monarchy	Election by legislature	Direct election	Direct and indirect election
	Sri Lanka	Direct election		Direct election
	Sudan	Direct election		Appointments due to transition	Indirect election
	Suriname	Election by electoral college		Direct election
	Sweden	Monarchy[166]	Election by legislature[166]	Direct election[166]
	Switzerland	Election by legislature		Direct election
	Syria	Direct election	Appointment by president	Direct election

T

	Country	Head of state	Head of government	Legislature
				Lower house	Upper house
	Taiwan	Direct election		Direct election
	Tajikistan	Direct election		Direct election	Indirect election and appointments
	Tanzania	Direct election		Direct election
	Thailand	Monarchy	Election by legislature	Direct election	Representation of interest groups
	Timor-Leste	Direct election[167]	Election by legislature[167]	Direct election[167]
	Togo	Direct election		Direct election
	Tokelau	New Zealand Monarchy[168]	Rotation of village leaders[168]	Direct election[168]
	Tonga	Monarchy		Partially direct election, partially by limited suffrage, partially ex officio
	Transnistria	Direct election		Direct election
	Trinidad and Tobago	Election by legislature		Direct election	Appointments
	Tunisia	Direct election	Election by legislature	Direct election
	Turkey	Direct election		Direct election
	Turkmenistan	Direct election		Direct election
	Turks and Caicos Islands	British Monarchy[169]	Election by legislature[169]	Direct election[169]
	Tuvalu	Monarchy[170]	Election by legislature[170]	Direct election[170]

U

	Country	Head of state	Head of government	Legislature
				Lower house	Upper house
	Uganda	Direct election[171]		Direct election and appointments[171]
	Ukraine	Direct election[172]	Election by legislature[172]	Direct election[172]
	United Arab Emirates	Indirect election by heads of constituent states[173]	Indirect election by heads of constituent states[173]	Appointments and indirect election[173]
	United Kingdom	Monarchy[174]	Election by legislature[174]	Direct election[174]	Appointments, hereditary peers, and indirect election[174]
	United States	Indirect election, Election by the 50 States using their electoral college[175]		Direct election[175]
	Uruguay	Direct election		Direct election
	Uzbekistan	Direct election		Direct election	Indirect election and appointments

V

	Country	Head of state	Head of government	Legislature
				Lower house	Upper house
	Vanuatu	Election by electoral college[176]	Election by legislature[176]	Direct election[176]
	Vatican City	Monarch elected by college of cardinals[177]	Appointment by monarch[177]	Appointment by monarch[177]
	Venezuela	Direct election		Direct election
	Vietnam	Election by legislature		Direct election
	Virgin Islands	US President[178]	Direct election[178]	Direct election

W

	Country	Head of state	Head of government	Legislature
				Lower house	Upper house
	Wallis and Futuna	French President[179]	Appointment by president[179]	Direct election[179]

Y

	Country	Head of state	Head of government	Legislature
				Lower house	Upper house
	Yemen	Direct election[180]	Appointment by president[180]	Direct election[180]	Appointment by president[180]

Z

	Country	Head of state	Head of government	Legislature
				Lower house	Upper house
	Zambia	Direct election[181]		Mostly direct election, some appointments[181]
	Zimbabwe	Direct election[182]		Direct election[182]	Mix of direct and indirect election[182]

See also

• List of close election results
• List of democracy and elections-related topics
• List of legislatures by country