Chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar (Image credits: ANI)

NEW DELHI: Chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Monday informed that India has been invited to chair the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) for the first time, gaining recognition for its electoral process.Commenting on this achievement, he said, “The world recognises the successful conduct of free, fair and transparent elections in India. Therefore, for the first time in its history of 30 years, the group of 37 democratic countries of the world have invited India to chair the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, International IDEA,” said Kumar.“This is a moment of immense pride for the citizens of India and all the Election Commission officials,” he added, as quoted by ANI.The Election Commission stated that Kumar will formally assume the Chair of International IDEA on December 3, 2026, in Stockholm, Sweden, representing India. The organisation comprises 37 democratic nations.Founded in 1995, International IDEA is an inter-governmental body with 35 member nations, while the United States and Japan participate as Observers. It has held observer status at the UN General Assembly since 2003. India, a founding member, has played an active role in shaping governance frameworks, conducting electoral research, and implementing training and capacity-building programmes.As the world’s largest democracy, India brings experience managing over 90 crore registered voters. This expertise is expected to strengthen Election Management Bodies worldwide during its tenure as Chair.Within the organisation’s membership and observer nations, India has the largest number of registered voters, with 991 million, representing 44.5 per cent of the total electorate of 2,225,549,481. The United States comes next with 234,504,358 voters, followed by Indonesia with 204,421,612. Other major contributors include Brazil, Japan, Mexico, and the Philippines, while smaller countries such as Luxembourg, Cabo Verde, and Barbados have far fewer electors.