Most South Asian countries - following Independence from British rule and, in the case of Nepal, liberation from the autocracy of one family group in 1950 - have enjoyed democratic systems of governance at some time or the other, often for extended periods of time. Electoral processes have, however, been found wanting to some extent in all these countries. This book seeks to understand electoral processes as they actually operate in South Asia, to discover the reasons for flaws found in these systems and the degrees of success or failure in attempts at reform. Manipulation of elections by governments and electoral malpractices are of critical concern in all South Asian countries.It is in this background that the International Centre for Ethnic Studies, Kandy, with funding from the Ford Foundation, organized an international conference on electoral processes and governance in South Asia, with a focus on a set of themes common to the different South Asian countries, which include: statutory framework and institutional arrangements; election procedures and malpractices; group discrimination in the electoral process; and election monitoring. A selection of insightful papers stemming from the conference are presented here, all penned by experts in this sphere. The South Asian countries selected for study are Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.