Washington: US President Donald Trump appears to have confused India with Brazil while attacking the American electoral process, claiming that 125 million people had voted in an Indian presidential election that did not take place.

In a Truth Social post on Sunday, Trump cited what he described as the results of India's "Presidential Election" to argue that US elections take too long to count and are therefore vulnerable to manipulation.

"125 Million People voted today in the first round of India's Presidential Election. The results came out shortly after the vote closed, on the SAME DAY," Trump said.

He then contrasted the alleged Indian process with vote counting in several US cities and states.

"In Detroit, Philadelphia, California, and numerous other US Cities and States, the results, with much smaller numbers, will often take weeks to Rig, I mean, calculate. Voting in America is CORRUPT," the US president said.

Trump's reference to India appears to be a mix-up with Brazil, which held the first round of its presidential election on Sunday.

Brazil's electoral authority recorded 125.27 million valid votes in the election. Results began to be released at 5 pm, when voting ended, and were updated as ballots were received and processed.

The Brazilian election pitted incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva against Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro. Neither candidate secured a majority, sending the election to a runoff scheduled for October 25.

India, meanwhile, did not hold a presidential election. Droupadi Murmu, who assumed office in July 2022, is the country's current President.

Unlike India's Lok Sabha and state assembly elections, the President is not directly elected by voters. The President is elected by an Electoral College comprising elected members of both Houses of Parliament and elected members of the legislative assemblies of the states and union territories through proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote.

In India's regular elections, voters directly elect members of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of Parliament, and state legislative assemblies.

The Prime Minister is subsequently appointed by the President, usually the leader of the party or coalition commanding a majority in the Lok Sabha. Chief ministers are appointed by state governors, generally the leader of the party or coalition commanding a majority in the state assembly.

India had nearly 980 million registered electors in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.

Trump has previously invoked India's electoral system, particularly its voter identification requirements, while arguing for changes to voting rules in the US.

In August, he claimed that India's Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar had spoken to officials in his administration and asked how elections could be conducted in the US without valid photo identification.

"Earlier this month, India's Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar, asked our Administration – How can you have Elections in the US without a valid Photo ID," Trump said on August 17.

"India's last Election had 646,000,000 Voters! Less than one per cent voted by mail, and every single Voter had to have a VALID Photo Identity Document." "We need to pass THE SAVE AMERICA ACT, now," he had said in the social media post.

Trump's remarks were made in support of the SAVE America Act, which would require Americans to provide proof of citizenship to register to vote, introduce a nationwide voter identification requirement and significantly restrict voting by mail. PTI