Face recognition system during upcoming urban polls in Bihar

Officials said the state poll panel has instructed district magistrates to set up proper IT teams at polling stations for implementing the face recognition initiative for voters’ verification.

Voters in the upcoming elections for urban local bodies in Bihar this time will be screened through a face recognition software to verify their identity and check electoral malpractices, according to officials in the State Election Commission (SEC), who said it was first of kind exercise in the country.

The software being applied can detect anomalies and give details of where and when a voter had cast his/her vote during the polling day, an official said. (HT Photo)

The SEC is all likely to issue notification for polls to fill up posts in 248 municipal bodies by mid-September. The election would, in all likelihood, be conducted in two phases, said officials familiar with the matter.

On Monday, state election commissioner Deepak Prasad held a meeting with all district magistrates in which updates on poll preparations were taken and instructions given pertaining to deployment of polling personnel.

“The urban polls would likely be held in October in two phases,” said an official in the SEC.

Officials said the state poll panel has instructed district magistrates to set up proper IT teams at polling stations for implementing the face recognition initiative for voters’ verification. Explaining the methodology, an SEC official said pictures of voters would be taken once they enter the booth through a tablet and verified through photo-electoral rolls.

“If the picture matches with the photo electoral roll, the voter would be allowed to enter the booth and cast one’s vote,” he said, adding that this would curb duplicate voting.

“The software being applied can detect anomalies and give details of where and when a voter had cast his/her vote during the polling day. Data would be stored for quick verification,” the official explained.

During the panchayat elections last year, the SEC had implemented the biometric IDs, EVMs and optical character recognition technology during polling and counting, which kept a check on bogus voting and electoral malpractices.

This time, the urban polls would also see direct election of heads of urban local bodies and their deputies, apart from ward members of the municipal bodies.

Officials said the total number of voters in the upcoming polls would be around 1.30 crore while number of polling stations will be around 16,000.

SEC Prasad and secretary Mukesh Kumar Sinha could not be contacted for comment despite repeated efforts.