Halfway Through an Epic Election Year

“Halfway through the biggest election year in history, the results are in. The verdict: Expect the unexpected and don’t underestimate that voters are people with bills to pay,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Elections over the past week involved countries with around 1.1 billion registered voters, about half the number expected to go to the polls worldwide this year. From Mexico to India and South Africa, voters delivered verdicts that ran counter to predictions, rattling financial markets as they turned expected landslides into narrow wins—and vice versa—by giving priority to their own economic prospects in a new era of high interest rates and stubborn inflation.”

“The results might offer a foretaste of momentous upcoming polls in the U.S. and Europe, or could simply serve as a reminder that predictions about election outcomes are just that—predictions.”

Politico: Five lessons from three consequential elections.