The following elections occurred in the year 1978.
Africa
- 1978 Cameroonian parliamentary election
- 1978 Comorian legislative election
- 1978 Comorian presidential election
- 1978 Egyptian protection of national unity and social peace referendum
- 1978 Ghanaian governmental referendum
- 1978 Malawian general election
- 1978 Rwandan constitutional referendum
- 1978 Rwandan presidential election
- 1978 Senegalese general election
- 1978 Sierra Leonean constitutional referendum
- 1978 South West African legislative election
- 1978 Sudanese parliamentary election
- 1978 Swazi general election
- 1978 Upper Voltan parliamentary election
- 1978 Upper Voltan presidential election
- 1978 Zambian general election
Asia
- 1978 Malaysian general election
- 1978 Maldivian presidential election
- 1978 Philippine parliamentary election
- 1978 Philippine parliamentary sectoral election
- 1978 Taiwan presidential election
Australia
Europe
- 1978 Albanian parliamentary election
- 1978 Andorran political reform referendum
- 1978 Austrian nuclear power referendum
- 1978 Belgian general election
- Cardinal electors in Papal conclaves, August and October 1978
- 1978 Danish electoral age referendum
- 1978 Icelandic parliamentary election
- 1978 Italian referendums
- October 1978 Papal conclave
- August 1978 Papal conclave
- 1978 Shetland referendum
- Spanish constitutional referendum
- 1978 Swiss referendums
- Vatican: two Papal conclaves:
France
Germany
- de:Bürgerschaftswahl in Hamburg 1978 (Hamburg)
- de:Landtagswahl in Niedersachsen 1978 (Lower Saxony)
- de:Landtagswahl in Hessen 1978 (Hesse)
- de:Landtagswahl in Bayern 1978 (Bavaria)
North America
- Greenlandic alcohol referendum
- 1978 Guatemalan general election
- 1978 Panamanian parliamentary election
- 1978 Panamanian presidential election
- 1978 Salvadoran legislative election
Canada
- 1978 Brantford municipal election
- 1978 New Brunswick general election
- 1978 Ontario municipal elections
- 1978 Ottawa municipal election
- 1978 Prince Edward Island general election
- 1978 Saskatchewan general election
- 1978 Toronto municipal election
- 1978 Yukon general election
United States
- 1978 United States Senate elections
- 1978 United States House of Representatives elections
- 1978 United States gubernatorial elections
United States mayoral
United States gubernatorial
- 1978 Arkansas gubernatorial election
- 1978 California gubernatorial election
- 1978 Maine gubernatorial election
- 1978 Minnesota gubernatorial election
- 1978 Oregon gubernatorial election
- 1978 South Carolina gubernatorial election
- 1978 Texas gubernatorial election
- 1978 United States gubernatorial elections
Arkansas
California
- 1978 California gubernatorial election
- United States House of Representatives elections in California, 1978
- 1978 California Proposition 7
- 1978 California Proposition 8
- 1978 California Proposition 13
Florida
Illinois
Maine
Minnesota
Nebraska
Ohio
Oregon
South Carolina
- 1978 South Carolina gubernatorial election
- 1978 United States House of Representatives elections in South Carolina
Texas
United States House of Representatives
United States Senate
- 1978 United States Senate elections
- United States Senate election in Georgia, 1978
- United States Senate election in Illinois, 1978
- United States Senate election in Maine, 1978
- United States Senate election in Massachusetts, 1978
- United States Senate election in Mississippi, 1978
- United States Senate election in Nebraska, 1978
- United States Senate election in North Carolina, 1978
- United States Senate election in South Carolina, 1978
Washington, D.C.
Oceania
- 1978 American Samoan referendum
- 1978 Cook Islands general election
- 1978 New Zealand general election
- 1978 Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands constitutional referendum
- 1978 Rangitikei by-election
Australia
South America
- 1978 Chilean national consultation
- 1978 Ecuadorian constitutional referendum
- 1978 Guyanese constitutional referendum
- 1978 Peruvian Constituent Assembly election
- 1978 Venezuelan presidential election