PARIS – Could Donald Trump make a comeback? Will anyone in Russia challenge Vladimir Putin for another six years?

With half the world going to the polls in 2024 and about 30 countries electing a president, here are five important elections to keep an eye on:

TRUMP-BIDEN REMATCH?

On November 5, tens of millions of Americans will elect the 60th president of the United States in a contest that could keep incumbent Joe Biden in power until he is 86.

Poll after poll shows that a majority of voters think the gaffe-prone Democrat is too old to be commander in chief, even though his likely rival, former President Donald Trump, is making similar gaffes at 77.

Disinformation appears to be a feature of the campaign, a holdover from the last ill-tempered contest that ended with Trump supporters storming the U.S. Capitol to prevent the certification of Biden’s victory.

Despite several criminal cases facing him, Trump is the clear favorite in the Republican Party’s nomination contest.

Putin is aiming for six more years

Vladimir Putin has been Russia’s leader for 23 years. In 2020, he had the constitution changed to theoretically allow him to remain in power until 2036, which could see him rule longer than Joseph Stalin.

Since the war in Ukraine has served to imprison or silence dissent and opponents, there is little chance that anyone could stand in his way for another six years in the March elections if he decides to run as expected.

His long-time nemesis Alexei Navalny is serving a 19-year sentence in a harsh penal colony.

Another potential challenger, Ukrainian war veteran and nationalist blogger Igor Girkin, has announced his intention to run but is also jailed indefinitely.

MODI’S BIG POWER GAME

Nearly a billion Indians will be called to vote in April and May when the world’s most populous country holds an election in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his nationalist party, the BJP, seek a third term in office.

Modi’s political career and success rested on the support of India’s more than one billion Hindus and, critics say, on stoking hostility toward the country’s large Muslim minority.

Despite crackdowns on civil rights during his time in office, he is the clear favorite in the vote. His supporters praise him for boosting his country’s standing on the world stage.

India in August became only the fourth country to land an unmanned spacecraft on the moon, after Russia, the United States and China, and plans to send a human to the moon by 2040.

EU TEST FOR POPULISTS

In the world’s largest transnational election in June, more than 400 million voters from 27 European Union countries will elect 720 members of the European Parliament who will decide on issues ranging from mobile phone roaming charges to online data protection.

The vote will be a test of support for right-wing populists, who have a tailwind in their sails after the victory of Geert Wilders’ anti-Islam and anti-EU PVV Freedom Party in the recent Dutch elections and Giorgia Meloni’s victory last year -right brothers of Italy.

Jordan Bardella, an MEP in France’s far-right National Assembly, hailed Wilders’ victory, writing on Facebook: “Bring on June 2024!”

FIRST MEXICAN FEMALE PRESIDENT?

A left-wing former mayor of the capital and a businesswoman with indigenous roots are both vying to make history in Mexico in June by becoming the first female president of a country with a tradition of machismo.

Former Mexico City mayor Claudia Sheinbaum is running on behalf of outgoing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s Morena Party.

Her outspoken opponent, Xochitl Galvez, was chosen to represent an opposition coalition, the Broad Front for Mexico.

A young governor from the state of Nuevo Leon, Samuel Garcia, also recently joined the race.

Early polls show Sheinbaum has a strong lead.