Maharashtra governor calls for online voting

The state governor, K Sankaranarayanan, has advocated major electoral reforms in the form of introduction of online voting system in elections.

He was speaking at the launch of the official website of the state election commission at Yashwantrao Chavan Academy of Development Administration (Yashada), in Pune on
Tuesday.

“If we can have online banking, why can’t we have online voting?’’ he asked, making a strong plea for the educated to be involved in the process of elections and the political system at large.

“There is a general feeling that the political process is too corrupt to be involved in. It is wrong to blame politicians for all ills in society,’’ he said.

The governor also called for greater transparency in the electoral process by means of increasing the voters’ turnout in the election process. While admitting to the existence of money pressure in the electoral process, he citied the involvement of all to bypass this factor. “Voting is a right and all should exercise it,’’ he added.

Earlier, the state election commissioner, Neela Satyanarayan, while enumerating the various features of the website, said now it would be possible to apply for addition, deletion and correction in the existing voters’ list. “Voters are our focal point and we will take steps to solve their problems,’’ she said.