Risk profile of the 2026 national elections, cross-referencing each country's political regime —per the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) Democracy Index— with the digital-environment risks documented by Diálogo Ciudadano: spyware cases, internet shutdowns and censorship. It is not a prediction of results nor a judgement on candidates; it is a comparable, country-by-country portrait of the conditions under which people vote. Each country is classified by its EIU regime category (full democracy, flawed democracy, hybrid regime or authoritarian) and flagged for verified digital risks in its territory. The aim is to answer a due-diligence question: under what real conditions is each election held? Regime ratings are always attributed to the EIU; digital risk, to the forensic or judicial sources of each case.
Statistical readings derived from the attributes of each recorded case. All figures come from the documented events; amounts are computed only over cases with a sum expressed in the indicated currency, without converting between currencies.
Choropleth by number of forensically or judicially documented cases. Countries with no verifiable public cases remain in the base colour — the absence of events does not equal the absence of surveillance. Hover or click a coloured country to see the cases.
Of the twenty-two 2026 elections profiled, only six take place in full democracies per the Economist Intelligence Unit; the other sixteen split between flawed democracies, hybrid regimes and autocracies. And in twelve of those countries there are verified digital risks —spyware, internet shutdowns, censorship— that shape how people vote.
Every election year produces a map of flags and dates. This tracker attempts something different: to place, next to each 2026 ballot, two uncomfortable questions. What kind of regime is voting? And under what digital conditions? The first is answered by the Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index, which classifies each country into four categories —full democracy, flawed democracy, hybrid regime and authoritarian—. The second is answered by Diálogo Ciudadano's own trackers: whether that country has verified cases of spyware, internet shutdowns or censorship.
The combined result is a risk profile, not a prediction. It does not say who will win or whether an election will be clean. It says something more modest and more useful for anyone needing to assess the terrain: under what institutional and digital conditions each vote is held. It is the difference between knowing there is an election and knowing how solid the ground beneath it is.
Only six of the twenty-two elections profiled take place in full democracies per the EIU (Costa Rica, Malta, Sweden, Denmark, New Zealand, Portugal). Six are held in authoritarian regimes. And in twelve countries there are verified digital risks shaping the voting environment: the democratic ground of the 2026 calendar is, for the most part, uneven.
The most revealing part of the cross-reference is that regime category and digital risk do not always coincide. Hungary is, for the EIU, a flawed democracy —not an autocracy—; yet on its territory Pegasus use against journalists was confirmed, and the EU monitors it over the rule of law. Israel is a flawed democracy that also hosts the headquarters of NSO Group, the maker of Pegasus. The United States is still classified as a flawed democracy, but V-Dem warns of accelerating autocratization, and its campaigns are already fought on generative-AI terrain.
This is exactly the gap the profile seeks to capture: a country can have formally competitive elections and, at the same time, a degraded digital environment that erodes voting integrity from within. Spyware against a journalist, an internet shutdown in opposition areas, or a wave of AI disinformation do not change the regime category, but they change the real conditions under which people inform themselves and decide. That is why the tracker flags both dimensions separately and does not merge them into a single score.
This tracker is designed as data infrastructure, not as an opinion piece. A political-risk analyst, an electoral observation mission, an insurer covering operations in emerging markets, or a platform's electoral-integrity team need exactly this: a comparable, country-by-country profile that cross-references regime with digital environment and links each claim to its source. The structure allows filtering by region, by regime category, or by the presence of digital risk, and updates when the EIU publishes its annual index or when a new verified case enters Diálogo Ciudadano's trackers.
It should be read with its limit up front: the regime category is a methodological judgement by the EIU, rigorous but debatable, and digital risk is flagged only where a public verified case exists —its absence does not prove there is no surveillance—. The value lies not in a single final score, but in making comparable, on one grid, the conditions under which the world votes in 2026.
For its 2026 elections (midterm), Estados Unidos is classified by the Economist Intelligence Unit in the 'Democracia imperfecta' category. Flawed democracy per the EIU; V-Dem flags accelerating autocratization. Generative AI in campaigns. The profile cross-references the political regime with the digital environment documented by Diálogo Ciudadano.
For its 2026 elections (generales), Uganda is classified by the Economist Intelligence Unit in the 'Autoritario' category. Electoral autocracy; documented internet shutdowns in previous elections. The profile cross-references the political regime with the digital environment documented by Diálogo Ciudadano.
For its 2026 elections (generales), Tailandia is classified by the Economist Intelligence Unit in the 'Régimen híbrido' category. GeckoSpy operation: 30+ activists infected with Pegasus (Citizen Lab verification). The profile cross-references the political regime with the digital environment documented by Diálogo Ciudadano.
For its 2026 elections (generales), Suecia is classified by the Economist Intelligence Unit in the 'Democracia plena' category. One of the world's highest-scoring liberal democracies per V-Dem. The profile cross-references the political regime with the digital environment documented by Diálogo Ciudadano.
For its 2026 elections (legislativas), Rusia is classified by the Economist Intelligence Unit in the 'Autoritario' category. Authoritarian regime per the EIU; documented digital censorship and surveillance. The profile cross-references the political regime with the digital environment documented by Diálogo Ciudadano.
For its 2026 elections (presidencial), Portugal is classified by the Economist Intelligence Unit in the 'Democracia plena' category. EU full democracy; DSA framework applicable. The profile cross-references the political regime with the digital environment documented by Diálogo Ciudadano.
For its 2026 elections (generales), Perú is classified by the Economist Intelligence Unit in the 'Democracia imperfecta' category. Flawed democracy per the EIU, with strong political fragmentation. The profile cross-references the political regime with the digital environment documented by Diálogo Ciudadano.
For its 2026 elections (generales), Nueva Zelanda is classified by the Economist Intelligence Unit in the 'Democracia plena' category. Full democracy; a benchmark in content regulation after Christchurch. The profile cross-references the political regime with the digital environment documented by Diálogo Ciudadano.
For its 2026 elections (generales), Malta is classified by the Economist Intelligence Unit in the 'Democracia plena' category. EU full democracy; DSA framework applicable to digital political advertising. The profile cross-references the political regime with the digital environment documented by Diálogo Ciudadano.
For its 2026 elections (generales), Myanmar is classified by the Economist Intelligence Unit in the 'Autoritario' category. Under military junta since the 2021 coup; widespread censorship and shutdowns. The profile cross-references the political regime with the digital environment documented by Diálogo Ciudadano.
For its 2026 elections (legislativas), Letonia is classified by the Economist Intelligence Unit in the 'Democracia imperfecta' category. EU democracy; focus on electoral cybersecurity given its border with Russia. The profile cross-references the political regime with the digital environment documented by Diálogo Ciudadano.
For its 2026 elections (legislativas), Líbano is classified by the Economist Intelligence Unit in the 'Régimen híbrido' category. Hybrid regime in a volatile regional context. The profile cross-references the political regime with the digital environment documented by Diálogo Ciudadano.
For its 2026 elections (presidencial), Irak is classified by the Economist Intelligence Unit in the 'Autoritario' category. Hybrid-authoritarian regime per the EIU; institutional rebuilding. The profile cross-references the political regime with the digital environment documented by Diálogo Ciudadano.
For its 2026 elections (legislativas), Israel is classified by the Economist Intelligence Unit in the 'Democracia imperfecta' category. Home of NSO Group; first elections since 7 Oct. Surveillance and press freedom under scrutiny. The profile cross-references the political regime with the digital environment documented by Diálogo Ciudadano.
For its 2026 elections (legislativas), Hungría is classified by the Economist Intelligence Unit in the 'Democracia imperfecta' category. Pegasus against journalists confirmed by the Pegasus Project; EU rule-of-law pressure. The profile cross-references the political regime with the digital environment documented by Diálogo Ciudadano.
For its 2026 elections (generales), Haití is classified by the Economist Intelligence Unit in the 'Autoritario' category. Classified authoritarian by the EIU; security crisis and fragile digital infrastructure. The profile cross-references the political regime with the digital environment documented by Diálogo Ciudadano.
For its 2026 elections (generales), Etiopía is classified by the Economist Intelligence Unit in the 'Autoritario' category. Electoral autocracy per V-Dem; history of internet shutdowns during periods of tension. The profile cross-references the political regime with the digital environment documented by Diálogo Ciudadano.
For its 2026 elections (generales), Dinamarca is classified by the Economist Intelligence Unit in the 'Democracia plena' category. EU full democracy with high institutional trust. The profile cross-references the political regime with the digital environment documented by Diálogo Ciudadano.
For its 2026 elections (generales), Costa Rica is classified by the Economist Intelligence Unit in the 'Democracia plena' category. One of Latin America's two full democracies per the EIU. The profile cross-references the political regime with the digital environment documented by Diálogo Ciudadano.
For its 2026 elections (presidencial), Colombia is classified by the Economist Intelligence Unit in the 'Democracia imperfecta' category. Pegasus purchase under investigation; one of the region's biggest democratic reversals in 2024 per the EIU. The profile cross-references the political regime with the digital environment documented by Diálogo Ciudadano.
For its 2026 elections (presidencial), Brasil is classified by the Economist Intelligence Unit in the 'Democracia imperfecta' category. Flawed democracy; intense platform-liability litigation (STF, Article 19). The profile cross-references the political regime with the digital environment documented by Diálogo Ciudadano.
For its 2026 elections (generales), Bangladés is classified by the Economist Intelligence Unit in the 'Régimen híbrido' category. Documented Pegasus spyware case and a sharp democratic decline flagged by the EIU. The profile cross-references the political regime with the digital environment documented by Diálogo Ciudadano.
One 2026 national election per country (the year's main one) is recorded and assigned the regime category from the most recent EIU Democracy Index, together with a verified-digital-risk flag (forensically or judicially verified spyware, documented internet shutdowns) cross-referenced with Diálogo Ciudadano's other trackers. The regime category and score are attributed to the EIU; they are not the outlet's own judgement. Digital risk is flagged only where a verified case exists in the country, with its source. Results are not predicted nor candidates assessed. The absence of a digital-risk flag means the absence of a public verified case, not the absence of risk. The decisive field is the regime + digital-environment combination: a formal democracy can hold elections in a degraded digital environment.