In a recent tweet, Donald Trump referred to India’s 2024 Lok Sabha election and highlighted the country’s predominantly in-person voting system and limited use of postal ballots. He used the comparison to make his case for tighter voter identification and citizenship requirements in US elections.
US President Donald Trump has cited India’s election system while making a fresh case for stricter voter identification requirements in the United States.
In an August 17 post on Truth Social, Trump referred to a recent conversation involving India’s Chief Election Commissioner and the US administration, claiming that the Indian election official had questioned how elections could be conducted in America without a valid photo ID.
Trump then pointed to India’s 2024 Lok Sabha election, noting that around 646 million voters participated and less than 1% voted by mail. He used the comparison to renew his call for the SAVE America Act, which seeks tighter voter identification and citizenship verification requirements in US federal elections.
Why India Became Trump’s Example
India’s 2024 general election was one of the world’s largest electoral exercises, with 64.64 crore votes cast. Postal voting accounted for a small share of this, with around 42.82 lakh postal votes recorded.
India’s voting process is largely built around in-person voting at polling stations. Voters are required to establish their identity using an approved photo identification document. The Election Commission’s framework allows multiple approved identity documents, meaning it is not limited to one particular voter card.
This is the part of India’s system Trump is highlighting as he argues that the US should adopt stronger identification requirements.
However, the comparison comes with an important difference: the US relies much more heavily on absentee and mail voting, with rules varying across states. That makes voter identification more complicated than simply comparing whether voters carry photo IDs to polling stations.
What Is The SAVE America Act?
Trump’s comments come as he continues to advocate for the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which would require documentary proof of US citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections and introduce nationwide voter identification requirements.
The legislation would also place additional restrictions and identification requirements on mail-in voting.
The bill passed the US House of Representatives in February but faces a tougher path in the Senate, where it would generally need 60 votes to overcome a filibuster.
For Trump, India offers a straightforward comparison: a country with hundreds of millions of voters conducts elections predominantly through in-person voting and uses photo identification as part of the process.
But the two systems have evolved differently. India’s elections are administered through a centralised national framework, while US elections are highly decentralised and involve different rules across states.
Trump’s post, therefore, is less about suggesting that America can simply copy India’s election model and more about using India as an example in an ongoing American debate over voter ID, mail-in voting and election security.
The comparison has nevertheless put a spotlight on an interesting question: What can the world’s two largest democracies learn from each other when it comes to making elections both accessible and secure?
