Bengaluru, March 10 Four bills were tabled in the Karnataka Assembly on Tuesday, including one proposing a return to paper ballots for local body elections amid concerns over the credibility and voter privacy of electronic voting machines (EVMs).
The Karnataka Gram Swaraj and Panchayat Raj (Amendment) Bill, 2026, which was tabled in the Assembly, aims to amend the 1993 Act to ensure that elections are conducted in a free, fair, and transparent manner, reflecting the democratic will of the people under Article 326 of the Constitution of India.
Furthermore, it aims to ensure the secrecy of the ballot for voters and protect them from coercion, intimidation, and undue influence, thereby safeguarding the sanctity of the democratic process, it said, adding that "it also aims to strengthen electoral mechanisms that prioritize anonymity and transparency."
Noting that concerns have been raised regarding the functioning of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), necessitating a return to the "robust" secret ballot paper system to restore public trust, the Bill stated that "the decision of the Karnataka government to revert to paper ballots for local body elections reflects a growing consensus on the need to strengthen electoral mechanisms that prioritize anonymity and transparency."
The Congress government in Karnataka had, in September last year, decided to recommend to the State Election Commission (SEC) to hold all future panchayat and urban local body polls in the state using ballot paper instead of Electronic Voting Machines, claiming an erosion of confidence and credibility among the people towards EVMs.
Also tabled in the assembly was the 'Karnataka Jnana Bhandar Manuscripts and Digitisation Bill, 2026', which provides for the survey, documentation, conservation, digitisation, research, publication and public access of manuscripts in the State.
It also provides for establishing the Karnataka Manuscripts Authority to achieve the aforementioned objectives.
According to the Bill, every person or institution possessing manuscripts should furnish particulars to the Authority in the prescribed form, within one year of this Bill becoming an Act. It also states that no one should wilfully damage, destroy or export any manuscript declared as Karnataka Heritage Manuscript without prior written permission from the Authority.
Contravention of both these provisions shall be punishable with imprisonment up to three years or fine up to 5 lakh or both, it added.
The Karnataka Lokayukta (Amendment) Bill, 2026, makes provision for the allowances payable to and other conditions of service of the Lokayukta to be on par with those of the Judge of the Supreme Court or the Chief Justice of High court, as the case may be.
The Karnataka Police (Amendment) Bill, 2026 that was tabled provides to include "misconduct and dereliction of duty" as reasons that could come in the way of ensuring a minimum tenure of two years for police officers as incharge of police stations, circle, sub-division, district and range.