ELECTIONS are always a highlight of the political calendar.
The adrenaline rush of a well-fought campaign for office will always be enjoyed by any pundit or politics nerd.
2021 saw a great few elections of note – from the Germany to Peru and from Canada to Japan.
With this in mind, here are a few upcoming polls of note coming soon in 2022.
South Korea
Moon Jae-in arguably had a higher international profile than most South Korean presidents, largely due to his visibility during the summits with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in 2018.
However, he is restricted to only one five-year term as per the South Korean constitution, so spring 2022 will see the election to find his successor.
The two key frontrunners are Lee Jae-myung of Democratic Party (the party of the incumbent president) and Yoon Suk Yeol of the conservative People Power Party.
Current opinion polling suggests the two are in for a close race, with third party candidates faltering on low numbers.
The South Korean presidential election will be held on March 9, 2022.
France
In 2017, an unknown former economy minister leading a brand new political party surged out of seemingly nowhere to become the youngest president of the Fifth Republic.
Four years later, Emmanuel Macron is one of the most widely recognisable national leaders in the world.
Macron is eligible for re-election next year – and is more than likely to seek it.
Opinion polling also suggests he’s in a strong position. He very consistently leads over all his likely second round rivals.
The French left appears to be in disarray, with not even Jean-Luc Mélenchon – who nearly made the second round in 2017 – featuring strongly in the polls.
Macron’s most likely challengers far-right contenders Marine Le Pen and Éric Zemmour and Valérie Pécresse of the centre-right Les Républicains.
The first round of the French presidential election is set to be held on April 10, 2022, with an option for a second round runoff on April 24, 2022.
Australia
If you feel like the previous Australian election wasn’t that long ago, you wouldn’t be alone. Australians go to the polls to elect their national government just every three years.
In 2019, Scott Morrison of the centre-right Coalition defied the opinion polls to land a majority government.
He’ll be up against Anthony Albanese of the Australian Labor Party – whose party has been out of power since 2013 after Kevin Rudd lost to Tony Abbott.
Previous Labor leader Bill Shorten failed to bring the party back to power in two subsequent elections. And while the polling looks fairly rosy for Labor right now, that was the story last time too.
The Australian federal election will be held on or before May 21, 2022.
[WATCH: The New Liberals on MMT, Macron-style populism and being an insurgent party in Australian politics]
Brazil
To call Jair Bolsonaro a controversial figure would be both an understatement and a euphemism.
The hardline far-right winger came to power in 2018 over Fernando Haddad of the Workers’ Party – with Haddad having been put forward by the party after former President Lula’s candidacy was blocked by the Superior Electoral Court.
However, Lula is now eligible to run again after his convictions were declared void by the Supreme Court, paving the way for a potential showdown between him and Bolsonaro.
The first round of the Brazilian presidential election is set to be held on October 2, 2022, with an option for a second round runoff on October 30, 2022.
United States
The election cycle never seems to end in the USA.
It has not even been a year since Joe Biden was inaugurated, yet we’re less than a year from his midterms – in which the House of Representatives and some Senate seats will be up for grabs.
While Biden himself will not be on the ballot, everyone can expect his performance in office to be a key factor in the upcoming election.
Redaction Report discussed the upcoming midterms in an edition of our YouTube show, which you can watch here.
The US midterms will be held on November 8, 2022.
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