CHENNAI: “Around 45 amendments were done to the election law and only four had reform measures such as bringing down the voting age from 21 years to 18 years. The courts have done far more reforms than the Parliament,” said N Gopalaswami, former Chief Election Commissioner of India, during an event held in Mylapore on Saturday.

Surana and Surana International Attorneys hosted the 13th knowledge series event, ‘Democracy in the Balance’, which focused on the challenges and opportunities facing the democratic processes, particularly in India and the United States, against the backdrop of the 2024 elections.

The impact of Artificial Intelligence on governance, the critical need to safeguard data privacy, and measures to prevent the misuse of voter information were discussed during the event. Gopalaswami highlighted the relative stability of the US election system compared to India’s multipoint structure, and stressed on issues like absentee voters and the developments in elections to avoid impersonation.

Alok Prasanna, co-founder at Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, emphasised the importance of robust safeguards to prevent data misuse in elections. “Mass media is a tool to shape public opinion and not to make public opinion. Misinformation is the biggest fear of democracy,” he added.

The session was moderated by Sneha Mula, HoD, Chettinad School of Law.