Extreme weather a growing threat to elections and democracy

People wade through the flood water after a heavy rain in Guwahati, India, Monday, April 20, 2026. ANUPAM NATH / AP

Floods, fires and extreme weather increasingly pose a threat to democracy, with at least 94 elections and referendums in 52 countries disrupted by natural hazards over the past two decades, a report published on Wednesday, April 22, said.

Between 2006 and 2025, at least 26 elections and referendums have been postponed, either fully or in part, due to natural disasters, according to the report by Stockholm-based democracy and electoral assistance institute International IDEA, published to coincide with Earth Day on April 22. Others have been disrupted by floods, hurricanes, heatwaves and landslides, as human-driven climate change is raising global temperatures and worsening extreme weather.

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