Canada vs United States: Free and fair elections
Canada
1
in 2025
United States
1
in 2025
Canada rank
1st
United States rank
1st
Free and fair elections over time
- Canada
- United States
How they compare
Canada currently reports 1 against 1 in United States, a difference of 0.
The two have swapped places 6 times across 185 shared years of data; in 1841 it was United States ahead.
Canada ranks 1st and United States ranks 1st of 172 countries.
Canada has averaged higher in every one of the 19 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Canada | United States | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1840s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 1850s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 1860s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 1870s | 1 | 0.8 | 0.2 | Canada |
| 1880s | 1 | 0.6 | 0.4 | Canada |
| 1890s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 1900s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 1910s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 1920s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 1930s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 1940s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 1950s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 1960s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 1970s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 1980s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 1990s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 2000s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 2010s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 2020s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher free and fair elections, Canada or United States?
- Canada, at 1 against 1 in United States as of 2025.
- What is the difference in free and fair elections between Canada and United States?
- 0, with Canada ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Canada and United States?
- 185 years are reported by both, from 1841 to 2025.
- How do Canada and United States rank globally for free and fair elections?
- Canada ranks 1st and United States ranks 1st of 172 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as Free and fair elections. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Central estimate of whether national elections were free and fair or not.