The bill seeks to change the traditional method of voting through a ballot paper and ballot box to electronic voting through Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). The bill was brought through a certificate of urgency, something which the majority MPs from the ruling party approved while the opposition rejected the idea of fast-tracking. The Minister of Presidential Affairs and Public Administration argued that there was a need to start the ball rolling in terms of procurement of the EVMs from the Indian state company Bharat Electronics. On Tuesday, he presented the bill, reading it for the second time and MPs have started debating it. The idea is that before Parliament adjourns it should pass the bill.
Democracy presupposes that rulers are chosen by the ruled and because direct democracy in the Athenian sense is almost an impossibility, modern democracies choose representatives to represent them at their assemblies. Universal adult suffrage is a fundamental political right in liberal democracies. In addition to the right to vote, citizens in democracies have a right to participate in the affairs of their polity to ensure that rulers rule in their interest. In other words, governments in democracies are expected to be transparent, accountable and responsive.
