An explanation for that was already given; Voldemort hadn't realised he had so much political power. It's also possible he had, but that casualties in the war made it impossible to apply it, as he'd need to personally show up and vote and if he tried he'd get arrested by whatever chunk of the Ministry of Magic he couldn't bully with his political power out of sheer self preservation, not least of which because even if he has something like 40% of the vote he needs another 11% to make majority votes on his own.
And he's still one guy with a small number of admittedly rich and influential people on his side against at least half the public. If the masses have a vote.
But it's implied they don't due to the Victorian aesthetics of the Wizarding World, and that only rich people/the nobility do. Which is problematic, as then having 40% of the vote is useful, sure, but for Voldemort actually trying to apply it is suicide once the ball of revolution gets rolling against him.
Harry doesn't have this problem (at the start anyway) due to having a shit load of good will among the masses for stopping Voldemort, and then later on as he takes a popular stance to try and make the Wizarding World less of a crapsack place, starting with the government. And he, unlike every other politician, isn't as tied to political considerations simply due to his massive voting block and by right of conquest acquired financial means. Keeping it interesting means not letting him steam roll straight over everyone and requires him to learn how to play the game, if only so he knows when others try to play him, but that's doable for a decent writer.
And he's still one guy with a small number of admittedly rich and influential people on his side against at least half the public. If the masses have a vote.
But it's implied they don't due to the Victorian aesthetics of the Wizarding World, and that only rich people/the nobility do. Which is problematic, as then having 40% of the vote is useful, sure, but for Voldemort actually trying to apply it is suicide once the ball of revolution gets rolling against him.
Harry doesn't have this problem (at the start anyway) due to having a shit load of good will among the masses for stopping Voldemort, and then later on as he takes a popular stance to try and make the Wizarding World less of a crapsack place, starting with the government. And he, unlike every other politician, isn't as tied to political considerations simply due to his massive voting block and by right of conquest acquired financial means. Keeping it interesting means not letting him steam roll straight over everyone and requires him to learn how to play the game, if only so he knows when others try to play him, but that's doable for a decent writer.