It feels like we’ve been in a perpetual election cycle for years now, doesn't it? Honestly, keeping track of who is actually in power versus who is just contesting a result from six months ago is a full-time job. If you’re checking in on what are the current election results right now, on January 17, 2026, you’re likely seeing a mix of fresh tallies from this week and the long-term fallout of the massive shifts that hit the US, UK, and Germany throughout 2024 and 2025.
The big headline today? Uganda.
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Just hours ago, official results confirmed that President Yoweri Museveni has secured a seventh term in office. At 81 years old, he’s managed to pull 71.65% of the vote. His main rival, Bobi Wine—the musician-turned-politician who has become the face of the opposition—landed about 24.72%. But if you talk to anyone on the ground in Kampala, "official" is a heavy word. There’s been a four-day internet shutdown, and Wine has already dismissed the results as "fake." It's a tense situation.
The Global Scoreboard: Where We Stand Right Now
Outside of the immediate news in East Africa, we are living through the ripples of the "Great Reset" elections of 2025. Last year was basically a wrecking ball for the political status quo in Western democracies.
Take Canada, for example. We just saw Mark Carney emerge as Prime Minister after the April 2025 federal election. He led the Liberals to a fourth term, which is wild considering how much trouble the party was in under Trudeau. But it wasn't a clean sweep. Carney is currently navigating a narrow minority government. In fact, just this week, there’s been a lot of chatter about "floor crossings." Two former Conservative MPs—Michael Ma and Chris d’Entremont—recently jumped ship to join the Liberals. It’s making the opposition, led by Pierre Poilievre (who actually lost his own seat in Carleton), absolutely furious.
Germany’s "Grand" Shift
If you look at Europe, Germany is currently settling into its new reality under Chancellor Friedrich Merz. The February 2025 election was a bloodbath for the left. The SPD—Olaf Scholz’s party—basically collapsed, hitting their worst result ever at 16.4%.
Now, Merz and his CDU/CSU are running the show in a "Grand Coalition" with what's left of the SPD. The most jarring part of those results, which still dictates German policy today, is the rise of the AfD. They doubled their share to over 20%, becoming the strongest force in every single eastern German state. That’s not just a statistic; it has fundamentally changed how the Bundestag operates.
Why the US Results Still Dominate the Conversation
Even though the US Presidential election happened way back in November 2024, the "current" results are still being felt in the legal and administrative changes happening right now in early 2026.
Donald Trump’s victory—winning 312 electoral votes against Kamala Harris’s 226—was more than just a win; it was a total realignment. He became the first president since Grover Cleveland to win non-consecutive terms. But the reason people are still searching for "results" is because of the judicial cleanup.
Basically, once the results were finalized, the federal charges against Trump were dropped. We saw Special Counsel Jack Smith request the dismissal of election-related charges "without prejudice" shortly after the win. In January 2025, Judge Merchan also postponed sentencing in the New York case. As we sit here in 2026, the US is halfway to the midterms, and the "results" are seen more in the executive orders and the "Gaza Board of Peace" (featuring names like Blair and Kushner) than in a ballot box.
Local Shocks: The Mumbai and UK Surprises
Sometimes the biggest shifts aren't national. Take the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) results that just dropped in India. This is a big deal. For nearly thirty years, the Thackeray family dominated Mumbai's civic politics. That's over.
The BJP-led Mahayuti alliance just swept the polls with 118 seats. The BJP alone grabbed 90. If you’re a local in Mumbai, this is the only "election result" that matters today because it controls the massive budget of India’s richest city.
And then there's the UK. We’re currently seeing the aftermath of the May 2025 local elections, which were a disaster for Keir Starmer’s Labour. They actually finished fourth in terms of seats won during that cycle. The big winner? Reform UK. Nigel Farage’s party took control of 10 councils, marking the first time they’ve ever held that kind of local power. It has turned British politics into a four-way fight that nobody really knows how to referee.
What to Watch Next
The dust hasn't even settled yet, and 2026 is already ramping up. If you're following the calendar, here’s what's hitting the fan next:
- Portugal: Presidential elections are happening tomorrow, January 18.
- Costa Rica: General elections are scheduled for February 1.
- Bangladesh: February 12 is the big one. This is the first vote since Sheikh Hasina was ousted in 2024. Nobel winner Muhammad Yunus is trying to steer the ship, but the Awami League is barred from running. It’s going to be a litmus test for "restored" democracy.
- US Midterms: We are officially in the "pre-season" for the November 2026 midterms.
Actionable Steps for Staying Informed
Checking what are the current election results shouldn't just be about looking at a bar graph. To actually understand what's happening, you've got to look at the "second-order" effects.
- Watch the Margin of Victory: In places like Uganda or Bangladesh, a 70% win often triggers more protests than a 51% win because it signals a lack of competitive space.
- Monitor "Floor Crossings": Especially in Canada and the UK. When individual representatives switch parties, it changes the "result" of an election months after the voters have gone home.
- Check Local Turnout: The German results showed a record 83% turnout. High turnout usually means deep polarization, which makes governing a lot harder, regardless of who won the seat.
The reality of 2026 is that an election result is no longer the end of a story—it's usually just the prologue to a legal battle or a coalition headache. Stay tuned to local tallies in Portugal this weekend if you want to see where the European "right-shift" goes next.