The world’s biggest election is also its hottest

As the world’s biggest elections get under way in India, candidates to national office will need to beat something more perilous than political rivals—extreme heat.

The India Meteorological Department has warned that during this year’s election, which started last week and runs until early June, most parts of the country will face higher than usual temperatures for the time of year, and potentially twice as many extreme heat days.

That exposes some 970 million voters and roughly 15 million poll workers to searing temperatures that can reach as high as 120 degrees Fahrenheit in parts of the country.

India’s staggered elections are by their very nature a feat of endurance. Voters can spend hours at outdoor rallies listening to local candidates or waiting in lines to vote. Election workers crisscross the country by helicopter and boat, hitch rides on elephants, or trek on foot in the Himalayan mountains to ferry the country’s 5.5 million machines to the far-flung hamlets due to vote next.

Meanwhile, thousands of candidates spend their days blasting campaign messages from open or partly shaded vehicles or sitting on sun-soaked stages waiting to give a speech.

V. Vaithilingam, a 73-year-old lawmaker from the Congress Party, was waving to supporters from his campaign truck a few weeks ago when he suddenly fainted. He had been on the go since early morning, giving speeches and walking around neighborhoods in Puducherry, a southern Indian coastal town known for hot, sticky weather. His political aides got him back on his feet and after a 15-minute break and sips of juice, he continued his campaign.

“There is no other option," said Vaithilingam, who said he didn’t have a lot of time to campaign since the territory was due to