MADAN YADAV
Political Science
August 2025
The paper is a critical reflection on the revolutionary effects of next-generation technologies on electoral practices in democracy including Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), voter verified paper audit trails (VVPATs), Biometric identification, artificial intelligence (AI), and social media on aspects of electoral democracy in India; the institutions, processes and principles of the same. The paper is set in a political science context and examines the way in which digital innovations are transforming the process of democratization, openness, accountability, and trust in the institutions and reducing fraud in elections. Supported by the experience of India and the international experience of other countries, it magnifies the dual character of technology as an enabler of inclusion and threat in the form of misinformation, algorithmic control, and monitoring. The case of Election Commission of India is analysed, as well as the implications of tech-mediated elections in terms of the legislation, legal, ethical, and constitutional issues. The research methodologically uses thematic-analysis and comparative political-assessment basing on the data obtained by official sources and academic literature. The paper ends by providing policy recommendations which will help to strengthen the integrity and democratic nature of policies as well as enhance the mechanisms of institutional protection and instill the belief that the digital revolution of elections does not become a digital devolution of democracy but that digital transformation of democracy becomes a positive growth that is beneficial to the major values of the world’s largest democracy
432- 468
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