Washington, 5 October

In an apparent faux pas, US President Donald Trump mentioned India in a social media post to claim that the electoral process in the US was “corrupt”, when there were no elections in India, and the post clearly appeared to be about the presidential election in Brazil.

In a Truth Social post on Sunday, Trump claimed that “125 million people voted in India’s Presidential elections and the results came out shortly after the vote closed”.

“Voting in America is CORRUPT,” Trump said, referring to the weeks taken for the counting of votes in elections in US cities and states.

“125 Million People voted today in the first round of India’s Presidential Election. The results came out shortly after the vote closed, on the SAME DAY,” Trump said.

“In Detroit, Philadelphia, California, and numerous other US Cities and States, the results, with much smaller numbers, will often take weeks to Rig, I mean, calculate. Voting in America is CORRUPT,” the US president said.

The reference to India appeared to be a possible mix-up with Brazil. Brazil held the first round of its presidential election on Sunday, with 125.27 million valid votes recorded, according to the country's electoral authority.

Results began to be released at 5 pm, when voting ended, and were updated as ballots were received and processed.

Brazilians voted in the presidential election pitting incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva against Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro. With neither of them able to secure a majority in the first round, the run-off election will be held on October 25.

India, meanwhile, did not hold a presidential election. President Droupadi Murmu, who took office in July 2022, is the current President of India.

Also, Indians do not directly elect their President. The President is elected by an Electoral College comprising elected members of both Houses of Parliament and elected members of the legislative assemblies of the states and union territories through a system of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote.

In India's regular elections, voters directly elect members of the Lok Sabha (lower house of the Parliament) and state legislative assemblies.

The Prime Minister is then appointed by the President, usually the leader of the party or coalition commanding a majority in the Lok Sabha, while chief ministers are appointed by state governors, usually the leader of the party or coalition commanding a majority in the state assembly.

India had nearly 980 million registered electors in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.

Trump has previously cited Indian elections, particularly the country's voter identification system, to push for electoral reforms in the US.

In August, Trump said India's Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar had spoken with officials from his administration and asked how US elections can be held without a valid photo identification card.

The US president made these remarks to drum up support for the SAVE America Act, which would require Americans to show proof of citizenship to register to vote, impose a nationwide voter identification requirement and severely limit voting by mail.

"Earlier this month, India's Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar, asked our Administration – How can you have Elections in the US without a valid Photo ID," Trump said on August 17.

"India's last Election had 646,000,000 Voters! Less than one per cent voted by mail, and every single Voter had to have a VALID Photo Identity Document." "We need to pass THE SAVE AMERICA ACT, now," he had then asserted in a social media post.