美国有线新闻 CNN 印度举行世界上最大规模的民主选举

 

Next story, India has kicked off what's been called the world's largest democratic exercise. That exercise is voting. And with a government that's a federal parliamentary republic and a population of 1.3 billion people, India is considered the world's largest democracy.

In this election, about 900 million people are eligible¹ to vote. To give you a sense of that number, it's almost three times the entire population of the United States.

In order to give that many people the chance to cast ballots², India plans to open about 1 million polling stations across the country, and more than 10 million officials will be working to manage them. The election will take more than a month.

So, what exactly will voters be choosing?

545 seats have to be filled in India's lower house of parliament, and all but two of them are elected by a simple majority vote. The others are appointed by the president.

The party that wins the majority in this election forms the government that will rule for the next five years. But India has hundreds of political parties. So if a single one doesn't win enough seats, then a coalition³ or alliance can form to choose the nation's prime minister.

During the last general election in 2014, 464 political parties took part. And if that sounds like a lot, consider a number of candidates. There were more than 8,250 of them.

1 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

2 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。