A German called a 'snap' election...

...five months later...

Photo by Mika Baumeister on Unsplash

Dear Reader,

In all three of Europe’s major democracies, early elections have been called this year.

Rishi Sunak got in there first. On May 22nd, the British prime minister called a surprise summer election. He set the date for July 4th, giving administrators and parties six weeks to campaign and prepare.

The vote took place smoothly and without any notable hitches.

A few weeks later, Emmanuel Macron was in an even greater rush to settle the matter of matter of whom the French wanted to represent them in the National Assembly. On June 10th, after suffering a beating at the hands of the far-right in EU elections, the French president announced two rounds of voting on June 30th and July 7th, giving the country just three weeks to prepare.

The vote took place smoothly and without any notable hitches.

Then, it was Germany's turn...

When Olaf Scholz became the third European leader to announce an early election on Wednesday, he set a vague date of “late March.”