New Delhi/ Bhopal, August 18, 2026

India's massive election machinery has found an unexpected admirer. US President Donald Trump has cited the Indian electoral system, its voter-identification process and limited use of postal ballots while pushing for tighter election rules in the United States.

Trump pointed to India's 2024 Lok Sabha election, where around 646 million votes were cast, and argued that voters were required to establish their identity before voting. He used the example to renew his demand for passage of the SAVE America Act, which seeks stricter citizenship and voter-identification requirements in US federal elections.

Reports claimed that Trump also referred to India's Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. According to the US President, Kumar had questioned how elections could be conducted in America without valid photo identification. The remark came after Kumar's recent interaction with US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor.

The world's largest democracy conducts elections across mountains, forests, deserts, islands, villages and some of the world's most crowded cities. The Election Commission's official data shows that 64.64 crore votes were polled in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, up from 61.47 crore in 2019.

There is, however, an important distinction. India does not depend upon one voter card alone. A voter's name must first appear on the electoral roll, while identification is established at the polling station. The Election Commission permits specified alternative identification documents in cases where the elector does not produce an EPIC.

India also relies overwhelmingly on in-person voting through EVMs. Official Election Commission figures show that of the 64.64 crore votes polled in 2024, about 64.21 crore were EVM votes, leaving only a small share cast through postal ballots.

That combination of scale, identification and largely in-person voting is what Trump has chosen to highlight. The comparison should not suggest that India and America have identical electoral systems. US elections are highly decentralised, with individual states exercising considerable authority over voting procedures. Voter-ID requirements have consequently remained politically contentious there.

India's electoral system continues to evolve under constant public and political scrutiny, but its ability to conduct elections for hundreds of millions of voters across an extraordinary geographical and social landscape remains a remarkable democratic exercise. The scale,

voter-verification process and largely in-person polling system cited by Trump are part of an electoral machinery India has built and strengthened over decades.

That makes Trump's reference significant. India has long taken pride in being the world's largest democracy; now its election practices are being cited in the political debate of one of the world's oldest democracies. When the US President points to India's experience while arguing for changes in his own country's voting system, it gives India's electoral model a noteworthy place in the wider global conversation on election management and voter verification.