Donald Trump has turned India’s election system into a fresh argument for tougher voting rules in the US, citing the scale of India’s 2024 election and its limited use of postal ballots.
In an August 17 Truth Social post, Trump claimed that India had 646 million voters in its latest general election, less than 1% voting by mail, and that every voter had valid photo identification.
The underlying Indian numbers broadly support the first two parts of the comparison. The Election Commission of India recorded 64.64 crore votes in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, including 42.82 lakh postal votes, equal to about 0.66% of votes cast.
Trump also said Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar had recently questioned how US elections could be conducted without a valid photo ID. That is Trump’s account of the conversation, not an independently confirmed statement from the Election Commission, so it should be treated as such.
How India Checks Voter Identity
India does have a nationwide framework for identifying voters at polling stations, but Trump’s description simplifies how it works.
The ECI says an Elector Photo Identity Card, or EPIC, is used for voter identification. However, an elector who cannot produce an EPIC can use one of the alternative photo-identification documents approved by the Commission. The ECI’s 2024 instructions specifically listed Aadhaar among those alternatives.
That means the factual comparison is not that every Indian voter must possess one particular voter card. Rather, voters whose names are on the electoral roll must establish their identity through an accepted document when voting in person.
India also does not operate a US-style universal mail-voting system. Postal ballots are available to specific categories of eligible voters, including service voters and certain voters unable to attend polling stations because of their duties or other qualifying circumstances. The 2024 election recorded 42.82 lakh postal votes.
What The SAVE Act Changes
The US legislation Trump is promoting goes beyond simply requiring identification at a polling station.
The SAVE America Act, passed by the Republican-controlled House in a 218-213 vote on February 11, would require documentary proof of US citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections. It also establishes photo-ID requirements for voting and additional identification requirements for mail ballots.
The legislation would also require states to provide voter-registration information to the Department of Homeland Security so federal officials can verify citizenship status and identify non-citizens on voter rolls.
The proposal has drawn opposition from Democrats and voting-rights organisations, which argue that documentation requirements could make registration or voting more difficult for eligible Americans. Reuters has also reported that independent investigations and state audits have found non-citizen voting in US elections to be extremely rare.
US Mail Voting Changes Equation
The biggest obstacle to a direct India-US comparison is the scale of mail voting.
In the 2024 US election, approximately 48 million people, or 30% of voters, used mail ballots, according to Reuters.
That is fundamentally different from India’s 0.66% postal-ballot share. India’s election machinery is predominantly organised around in-person voting at polling stations, while American states have developed extensive absentee and mail-voting systems with different rules across jurisdictions.
That distinction matters for the SAVE America Act because imposing identification requirements on mail voters involves more than checking a document at a polling station. The legislation would require additional documentation with mail ballots, potentially changing how millions of Americans participate in federal elections.
Latest Battle Over Mail Voting
The legislative debate is unfolding alongside a separate legal fight over Trump’s efforts to restrict mail voting.
A federal judge in Boston on August 11 blocked the US Postal Service from implementing part of Trump’s March executive order aimed at tightening mail-ballot procedures. The ruling expanded an earlier injunction covering 23 states, and the administration has asked the Supreme Court to intervene.
The SAVE America Act itself passed the House in February but has not cleared the Senate. Reuters reported at the time that it was unlikely to secure the 60 votes normally required to overcome a Senate filibuster. Business Standard reported on August 18 that the Senate had entered a five-week recess without taking concrete steps towards its passage.
The India comparison therefore illustrates a real difference in election administration, but it does not establish that one system can simply be transplanted into the other. India conducted an election involving nearly 98 crore registered electors, with identity checks built into predominantly in-person voting.
The US has a far more decentralised system and relies substantially more on mail voting. The policy question facing Washington is not merely whether voter ID works, but how new federal requirements would interact with that existing structure.
Read More: From 41 Transfers to Challenging Power: The Remarkable IPS Journey of D. Roopa Moudgil
